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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861618">Just A Second</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerenight/pseuds/Nerenight'>Nerenight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Molly3 Series [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Blood and Violence, Everyone Is Gay, Gen, Lore - Freeform, Multi, Mutual Pining, after he goes through a lot of shit, i screamed throughout writing every chapter, lucien is a brat, today we let molly3 learn to love himself</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:16:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>49,325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861618</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerenight/pseuds/Nerenight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mollymauk finds himself discovering more about his past lives than he asked for - so much so that they come back in a destructive wave. Wildemount is in a heap of trouble. The Tomb Takers' plans are revisited, that dang bird boy won't leave Mollymauk alone, and his mind won't shut up about it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Molly3 Series [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672030</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Shadow that Follows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>He livES AGAIN!<br/>Hey guys! I'm back with the first chapter of many. Yes, many. They're longer than my usual stuff - because I went on a huge panic tangent with typing because - honestly - even I don't want this story to end! I finished this chapter and started busting out the second one last night in my feral dream??? typing - but I hadn't planned the chapter out yet so a page or two of that is going to get ret-conned... or just erased - I'm the writer.<br/>I'm going to try and keep up with bi or tri weekly updates. My work schedule is really dumb, but as long as I have two days off in a row then I typically have motivation to sit down and write. Or I can just upload sporadically whenever I finish a chapter. IDK - you guys tell me what sounds best! </p><p>I was absolutely delighted to be tagged in the first Molly3 fan art I've seen a couple weeks ago! I cried, tbh. You can find their IG @_cryptic_alchemist and they posted it in July!! </p><p>Anyway, this chapter is me dumping a whole lot of foreshadowing. And then leaving you to wAIT. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> The trees around the grove and into the dense woods that ducked left and right with the stream began to bud around this time of the year. They cast small circle shadows along with the lines of the branches; the sun was rising slowly in the sky - lighting the clouds pink as the rest of the world quietly rose from their sleep. Snow, just a dusting, melted in patches along the grass, leaving fresh mud that was soon marked by the pressing of shoes and feet. The moon druids slipped into the forest to check in on burrowing bunnies and bears in their caves - waiting to come out for the warmer weather. 
</p><p>	A pink-haired firbolg ventured with them, curious about the region that was fairly close to his home. He collected berries, nuts, mushrooms, and roots that he could cook up that morning, along with watching how the druids properly dispatched a deer and dispersed the various bones and meat among themselves to feed the fair gathering that were hosting the Ashari. 
</p><p>	The monk dragged paladin-in-training out to the corner of the grove to where the rocks piled in the sun. They were a sight to watch stretch and settle into a lotus position as they kept each other company in the early morning. The druids who sat around the stream cleaning would eye the half-orc who itched at his face as dragonflies whizzed by, keeping their laughter to a minimum while he kept painfully still when the human opened her eye. 
</p><p>	Some younger druids stole the halfling from her spot - and in their small tents, traded knick-knacks and buttons for the stories the rogue had plenty of. Some meddling with explosive arrows stained the faces of many children with gunpowder. The halfling woman decided she was going to adopt every one of them despite their parents working right outside. 
</p><p>	Flowers were being pressed in numbers as the aasimar stepped lightly around the grove. Daisies that popped out of the melting snow soon found home between the pages of her memories. Druids came by to ask the reasoning for her book - if it were for research or elsewhat. They found her fascinating; and soon her dark hair was just as full as the bound parchment with flowers and buds. 
</p><p>	The little blue tiefling settled by the water’s edge, getting a small cup’s worth as she began painting another of the cherished tarot card deck she carried. The idea somewhat came to her in a passing dream, and she carefully painted a design so small and intricate that the paint dried with a slight raise in the texture. She set it aside to flip through the others in the pile.
</p><p>	Inside the reopened home of the hosting druid, Ku’ra, who in turn had joined her allies in preparing for another day of discussion and meals, laid a still sleeping lavender tiefling. The sunlight showed gentle streaks between the hanging ivy, setting the rounded room in a soft golden glow. He was curled in around the multitude of pillows and thrown about blankets on the flattened humus dirt - a futon of sorts, although much less put together. His tail flicked subconsciously as the noise of the outdoors crawled into the home in occasional bursts. 
</p><p>	A wizard sat at the table, book in hand - his pinkie keeping it open. His eyes drifted from the words to the one that still lay sleeping and back again. His free hand inched toward a quill, scribbling more notes on the long list of theories he was working on. An orange cat swept in and out of the space between his legs, trodding over to the tiefling and purring into their face while the human watched from behind the feather. 
</p><p>	If it wasn’t for the tickling of whiskers against his nose, Mollymauk would have continued to enjoy the cool air coming in whilst underneath layers of soft blankets. Maneuvering a hand free, he wiggled a finger to block the cat’s nose. 
</p><p>	“Lucien, stop,” he mumbled, pressing his face into the pillows. “I’m warm.”
</p><p>	Frumpkin meowed, clearly offended. Trotting atop the back of the man, he nipped the tiefling’s ear.
</p><p>	“Luci-!” Mollymauk hissed, opening his eyes to bat the cat away - only to freeze at the cat blinking at him. “Oh, Frumpkin.” Instantly, his hands relaxed as he twisted to hold the cat on his chest. “Sorry. You had a long night too, didn’t you? No, don’t play with that,” he said, nudging the paw away from the sealed thread on his sternum. Picking the cat up, Mollymauk pressed the fur to his face. “You always smell so nice. I must smell like crap after that-”
</p><p>	“You don’t smell that bad,” Caleb replied, dipping his quill into ink. 
</p><p>	The tiefling snapped to a sitting position, holding Frumpkin out in front of him while the blankets fell to his hips. “Mister Caleb! You’re…” he paused, looking at the bed around him, “everyone is up. Huh, what time is it?”
</p><p>	“Nine-twenty-one,” the human said, finishing up on the page he was working on. “Caduceus is making breakfast with Miss Ku’ra and the others; everyone else is out and about keeping themselves busy.”
</p><p>	Frumpkin relaxed again on the thighs of Mollymauk, who awkwardly glanced at his bare chest to Caleb who made no move from the table. “And what have you been doing?” he asked. 
</p><p>	“Studying,” Caleb said, looking up from the paper. “But I’ve finished.” A small smirk flicked up at his lips. “You slept in quite late today, ja?”
</p><p>	“I had a long day yesterday.”
</p><p>	“How are you feeling?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk thought about it. “I feel fine. Aye, definitely better than before. Are you alright?”
</p><p>	Caleb tucked his book into the holster under his arm, glancing back as if he wasn’t expecting a return question. “Ja. I’m good? I’m well.” He eyed the tiefling from the chair as he slowly got up. “We all went to bed worried, of course. Why do you ask?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk stepped about the pillows, gathering clothes from a chest that he used when he lived in the grove before. “Your beard grew out; I didn’t know if that was a conscious choice or you forgot about it.” He picked up some wool trousers to wear under his skirts. 
</p><p>	“Beard,” Caleb repeated, rubbing the scruff that he wouldn’t admit was longer than he thought. “I suppose things have been on my mind. Does it look bad?”
</p><p>	Tying a red tunic around his waist, Mollymauk squinted. “‘Does it look bad?’” he said, “No, it doesn’t; I mean, I don’t remember seeing you fully clean shaven, so I don’t have that much of a comparison.”
</p><p>	“Perhaps I should get Yasha again.”
</p><p>	“Yasha?”
</p><p>	“Ja,” Caleb chuckled, getting up from his seat. He took the two ends of the necklace chain that the tiefling was trying to link through, pulling it around and secure to the man’s neck. “She’s been practicing her barber skills. You were there when she first tried it.”
</p><p>	“Oh.” Mollymauk’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment. “I don’t recall that; I’ll have to watch this time. She used just a razor, I hope.”
</p><p>	“Nein, she used her sword.” Caleb stepped back, just in time to avoid getting smacked with Mollymauk’s unweaving braid. 
</p><p>	“You two did not!”
</p><p>	“Ja, we did.”
</p><p>	“No!”
</p><p>	“Ja.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk pressed his hands over his mouth, laughter boiling up in his chest as phantom images passed through his mind. “Mister Caleb,” he smiled, “she could have killed you; that would be awful.”
</p><p>	“Eh, there are worse things to be killed by.” Mentally recounting the many times he was thrown about. “She didn’t do a bad job,” Caleb stated, sliding his coat on and slipping his scarf up and over his shoulders. His gaze shifted from the floor to meet the dressed tiefling’s eyes. “I think breakfast should be ready by now. Shall we go?”
</p><p>	“Aye,” Mollymauk replied, shoving his feet into boots as they walked out of the home. He grabbed at Caleb’s shoulder. “Please don’t let the other’s know I’ve been teaching you Druidic.”

</p><p> </p><p>	He hadn’t imagined he would see both families massed so closely together. Mollymauk sat amongst the long, oval shaped pattern of the group as they ate their breakfast; the usual modest selection now included variety that would only be seen on days of importance, and in this case, of special guests. The tiefling’s gaze drifted from pair to pair. Beauregard flirted dauntlessly with the two druids next to her - one being Ku’ra, who, upon eavesdropping, fell into stride with the monk’s quirks and combatted one line with another, sending Beau into a stuttering shamble. Mollymauk huffed a laugh, picking up his plate and laying the sauteed and grilled vegetables next to a freshly cooked venison. The heat from the food felt nice in the cool air of early spring. 
</p><p>	“Everything cooked to your liking?” Caduceus asked, walking around the circle. He was slightly dirty, and definitely smelled like he worked all morning, Mollymauk concluded. Caduceus crouched down with a basket of bread. “Just finished these as well. Figured, I’d, uh, share them with you all before they’re gone.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk picked one up. “You’ve outdone yourself, Mister Clay. It’s quite delicious.”
</p><p>	Jester ran over, plopping herself down in-between her friends. “I take it you didn’t kill the poor deer, Caduceus. You looked super perplexed walking back into the grove earlier.” She snatched a roll out of the basket and pulled it apart to eat. 
</p><p>	“No, no, I understand the need for some people to eat meat; you use what the earth provides you, and I appreciate everything is used and doesn’t go to waste -”
</p><p>	“But you don’t want any? Are you sure?” Jester said, picking up a small piece of venison and waving it in the firbolg’s face. “<em>‘Eat me!’</em>”
</p><p>She snickered at the expression Caduceus made as he stood back up, wiggling his nose. 
</p><p>“I’m gonna go pass these around,” he replied, shuffling over to Caleb and Fjord. 
</p><p>Jester giggled and quieted, making her plate. Mollymauk carefully picked at his food, glancing at her as she squished her bread into the vegetables. Everyone was in idle chatter; focusing on the red-headed druid at one head of the oval. She talked wildly with her hands and would pull them into herself just as quickly. 
</p><p>“What are you thinking about, Jester?” Mollymauk said in infernal. He rested his elbow on a thigh as he placed his plate on the grass. 
</p><p>“Oh, nothing, you know.”
</p><p>“Nothing? I sincerely doubt that!”
</p><p>The blue tiefling pursed her lips. “Well, a little bit of everything. We’ve been all over the place, y’know? Crazy things happened! And we finally had you back for the past month and I’ve really missed you… y’know?”
</p><p>“Aw Jester,” Mollymauk propped his face into his hands. 
</p><p>“Well, technically - everyone missed you. But I did especially.” She paused, her lips forming into a plump blue “o” as she scrambled into her side pouch and pulled out a deck of cards. “I’ve been practicing! And wanted to know if you would let me give you a reading!” 
</p><p>Mollymauk looked at the cards - their plainly decorated backs struck a chord within him. His fingers hovered over the paper. “Aye,” he said, “I don’t mind. What sort of spread are you versed in?”
</p><p>Jester blinked.
</p><p>“Okay,” Mollymauk replied, courting a smile. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the future. Perhaps we lean that way. What’s in my future?”
</p><p>“Okay, okay!” Jester shifted so that she sat crossed legged besides him. A few seated people around them glanced their way, but continued their breakfast conversation. “I know this isn’t a full deck, and I added a few in here, but it’s fun, right? And who knows - maybe I’ll get something that blows your mind!” She shuffled the cards in her hand. “Split this for me?” she asked, holding them out.
</p><p>Mollymauk took his left hand and cut the deck in half. Jester held her hand on top and closed her eyes in concentration. He studied her face as it bunched up, trying to feed her energy to the cards. 
</p><p>“Do you want to pick them, or should I?” she asked, opening an eye.
</p><p>“Go from the top,” he said, “Make it simple.”
</p><p>Jester carefully placed three cards in front of them, and set the remainder of the deck at the bottom. She flipped them over one at a time. 
</p><p>“Oh, the Moon and reversed Mirror,” she said, a smile returning to her features. “How perfect does that fit?” She touched the card lightly, the reflection of the single moon in its sky having the second - reddish-purple moon behind it. “This one was from your Moonweaver deck.”
</p><p>Mollymauk eyed it. The edges were worn, if not slightly singed red. 
</p><p>“I’m not exactly sure how to describe them like you did,” Jester admitted a little sheepishly. “But if you can get something from it, then that’s good right?”
</p><p>“Aye,” he said, resting his hand on her wrist. “Keep going?”
</p><p>She flipped the middle card. 
</p><p>“I don’t think we’ve drawn this one before,” she said - looking at the burning Serpent card. “It sort of looks like your tattoo - I wonder which came first?” 
</p><p>Mollymauk pressed his lips together. “Sorry, Miss Jester, I don’t remember.” 
</p><p>“That’s okay,” she laughed. 
</p><p>The serpent was crawling out of an altar in flames, its red eye looking upward to a darkening sky.
</p><p>Jester flipped the last one.
</p><p>“Oh! Oh! I made this one - it’s the Death and the Dawn. I was sort of inspired by you and that’s why it’s technically your old grave, but hey, it’s upside down. Um…” They both looked at the card, as the sun rose upside down from the land, or rather, setting off the card. “I didn’t really imagine how it would be read like this. Sort of defies physics this way, um, okay, okay - we’ll just ignore that aspect!”
</p><p>Mollymauk rested his chin on his knee again. The cards rustled gently with a passing wind. “Could you turn the deck over, Jester? To the bottom card?”
</p><p>“Oh, okay! Sure,” she said. Lifting the deck up, she flipped it in her palm. There standing in the sun in all his glory - the Fool. “What does this one m -”
</p><p>“Hey guys!” Beau said, sliding in between them, her leg pushing through the tarot spread. “Wow, what a morning, right? You guys playing with those cards again - that’s cool, um, nice can you both talk back to me so those girls over there don’t think I’m a complete tool?”
</p><p>“Flirt too hard, did you?” Mollymauk asked, picking up the scattered cards. 
</p><p>“Druids, man,” Beau replied, smiling at Jester. “Didja know some can talk to trees like you can, Jess? Look at you, already stronger than they are. Amazing. Please keep talking back to me.”
</p><p>Jester snorted. “What did you even say to them? You’re usually so skilled at - how did Veth word it - getting all the bases?”
</p><p>“I guess it doesn’t work with every woman I talk to,” Beau said, inching downward. “Ku’ra absolutely killed me. Tongue-tied, distraught - fuck, what a woman.”
</p><p>A wheeze caught in Mollymauk’s throat. “You deserve every comeback she served to you,” he said, laughing lightly. “Maybe don’t try to sleep around with the circle?”
</p><p>“I bet they do some crazy shit in bed.”
</p><p>“Beau!” Jester laughed, covering the monk’s mouth. “They can hear you!” 
</p><p>A tall, freshly bathed half-orc leaned over the bunch, “Now what are we laughing about?” Fjord was quick to kneel down behind them as the druids awkwardly stared when no one else was standing. 
</p><p>“Beau is just being Beau,” Jester replied, not releasing her hands from over the human’s mouth. “Cold bath today? Were you <em> naked </em>, Fjord?”
</p><p>Fjord stuttered, “no, I was in my undershirt. I couldn’t find any tubs so the stream had to do. Beau here is ruthless in her workouts… Can she breathe?”
</p><p>“Hmmf err appain!” Beau replied, saluting the man. She licked Jester’s palm to free herself. “I notice you have a satchel? Taking a trip?”
</p><p>“Oh this? No, this is full of things some of the druids said are from the Wildmother? Thought it would be good luck to keep them around. Although, Caduceus was discussing perhaps we check in on his family - make sure they made it back to their grove alright.”
</p><p>Mollymauk let his leg fall back to sitting crossed. “Mister Clay’s family is up here? Did I know that?”
</p><p>“Wouldn’t expect you to, Molly,” Beau replied, patting his leg. “But yeah - I feel kinda bad we left them so soon after we found them. A check in would do ‘Deuc some good.”
</p><p>“How long do these breakfast gatherings last, Molly?” Fjord asked. 
</p><p>“Until the guest is done. Which I would imagine would be soon.”
</p><p>“She looks sort of familiar,” Caleb said, appearing next to them. “Miss Keyleth reminds me of an illusion I once made for a friend. Older, of course, but,” he shrugged, “the resemblance is there.”
</p><p>“The Voice of the Tempest is from Tal’Dorei,” Mollymauk said, “from what I heard, she isn’t in Wildemount very often.”
</p><p>“Is this a meeting?” Yasha whispered, crawling up to the group. “Sorry, I was sitting far away, I didn’t want to be too obvious.”
</p><p>Mollymauk’s ears perked up. “Yasha, you’re beautiful!” he exclaimed, hands immediately going for the dozens of flowers in her hair. “We match!” He touched the blooming buds circling the left side of his growing horn. 
</p><p>Yasha smiled, blushing lightly. “Thank you,” she said, “the flowers here are very pretty.”
</p><p>“Everything here is very pretty,” Beau countered back - shooting a wink Yasha’s way. The aasimar smirked. 

</p><p> </p><p>Breakfast lasted over an hour as the Nein got restless in sitting so long. Veth returned from the cult of children that were more or less recruited to the Chaos Crew. Caduceus packed a day’s trip of rations for those who volunteered to check up on the Clay family with him. Ku’ra pointed out the direction to the Blooming Grove, about eleven miles north. Some druids who accompanied their companions to the Moon Circle gathering offered to come along to pay homage to the temple to the Wildmother. A wagon of supplies was added to the group - and with that Caduceus, Fjord, Jester and a handful of druids left Ku’ra’s grove. 
</p><p>“Does this place have a name?” Veth asked Ku’ra as they waved goodbye.
</p><p>“No, I just call it home,” she answered earnestly.
</p><p>“I think you need to name it. It’s missing that pizazz.”
</p><p>“You can name it if you want to.”
</p><p>Caleb put his hand atop Veth’s head. “You’re giving her too much power,” he said to the human druid. “Not everything needs a name, Veth.”
</p><p>“Sure it does. Cowards.”
</p><p>Mollymauk let his waving arm fall to his side when the traveling group disappeared from view. “So when they get back tomorrow, where do we go from here?” he asked, turning to his friends. 
</p><p>“That’s a good question,” Beau replied. “Back to the Xhorhaus?”
</p><p>Birds almost chirped on cue as Keyleth approached, her mantle drifting lazily through the tall grass. “Leaving so soon? I may also take my leave in a few days. My friends are expecting their first grandchild to be born this season; and I dare not miss it. Strange seeing some of them get older.” She smiled sadly. “But that’s just life’s way, isn’t it? How are you feeling today, Mollymauk? Everything well?”
</p><p>The tiefling touched his chest. “Haven’t felt anything since, ma’am. Thank you.”
</p><p>“It was my pleasure to help.” 
</p><p>They all stood silently next to each other for a few moments. The grove was coming back to life behind them as guests took on to daily activities. The sun dodged from cloud to cloud in the sky. Birds fluttered from the trees nearby; Mollymauk side stepped to Yasha, watching them pass. The barbarian pulled him to her hip instinctually.
</p><p>“I think I’ll go for a walk to some of the orchards nearby. Care to join me, Miss Ku’ra?” Keyleth asked finally, propping herself up on her staff. The human cleared her throat, nodding at the invite - briefly turning towards who was left at the Nein, pointing from her eyes over to Mollymauk in a loving threat before leaving with the Ashari. 
</p><p>“What about the Lunar Grove? The Trickling Grove? The Druid Grove,” Veth spat out. “Are any of these sticking with you guys? I’m working with nothing here.”
</p><p>“We’ll vote on it later,” Caleb replied, eyeing the trees where the birds made Mollymauk nervous. “Let’s head back to the stream. Maybe we can work on our plans for when the others get back.”

</p><p> </p><p>Hardly two hours had passed before the lot of them ended up laying in the grass, watching the clouds drift by. Beau no longer had the stash of shrooms ever since Caduceus confiscated what was left after some adventuring mishaps, so they all laid there in a normal state of mind. Mollymauk’s thoughts blew through a handful of things that the Moonweaver could want him to do; what even was a champion if they had no direction. The tarot reading stuck in his mind alongside the conversation he had with Sehanine. 
</p><p>Veth absently pointed out a cloud that looked like a dick. They agreed it was from Jester. 
</p><p>The tiefling, grass tickling his nose, let his head fall to the side, looking at Caleb next to him. The wizard’s brows were pulled tight in concentration, not noticing his stare. His fingers lightly rested down where the other’s were as well; a pinkie stretched out.
</p><p>In a sudden sting, of what felt like a bee, to his forehead, Mollymauk sat up abruptly - hand slapping between his horns. He couldn’t think of what the burn was as he gawked at the cat spirit sitting in front of him. Its red eyes bore right through him - passed him - behind him. As Mollymauk’s friends sat up to ask what was wrong, he turned around, following the cat’s gaze.
</p><p>Above the trees, rising in dark plumes, was smoke - puffing up wildly a few miles to the northeast. It darkened the sky in ash. The Nein all stood up, watching the smoke.
</p><p>“A fire?” Yasha said, feeling the wind carry the smell through the fields. 
</p><p>	“That’s pretty big for a forest fire - looks serious,” Beau added, glancing about for the druids who would undoubtedly handle it. Some who were also grazing in the grass looked up to watch.
</p><p>	“That’s not forest,” Mollymauk said. The black cat pressed through his legs. “Shadycreek Run is there.” 
</p><p>	“Oh shit, you’re right.”
</p><p>	“Fuck,” Veth added. 
</p><p>	Mollymauk stepped after the cat as Lucien started towards the town. In a beat, Frumpkin tailed after - startling even Caleb. “C’mon,” Mollymauk said, “it’s best if we made sure the fire doesn’t breach the woods.” He checked his hidden blade in his bracer while the others rushed to grab their weapons from the house. 
</p><p>	“I’ve never seen Frumpkin do that,” Caleb said, watching the cat disappear into the treeline.
</p><p>	“Aye,” Mollymauk agreed. “Cats sure are weird.” 
	
</p><p> </p><p>They ran through the trees, keeping an eye on the flume above as it grew larger with every mile closer to the town. Shadycreek Run was not a place any of them wanted to revisit - harboring bad memories and bad people throughout the unregulated city. As the five of them approached the outskirts of the city, they already spotted stealthy druids dispersing themselves along the trees to smother rogue flames. 
</p><p>“Looks like it’s mostly centered on some of the buildings,” Beau said.
</p><p>Frumpkin trotted back to the group, Lucien-less. Caleb sighed at the orange cat. “Don’t run off when I need you. Ready to fly now, okay?” He sat to work on transforming his familiar into a hawk, and sent him up into the air. “Avoid the smoke,” he commanded, his eyes blinking into a sclera pale blue. 
</p><p>Veth disappeared around the corner of the nearest building. 
</p><p>“Looks like there are groups in a pretty bloody fight. Both a barn and tavern are in flames. People fighting in the streets. Others are fleeing,” Caleb reported with a blank expression. 
</p><p>“So we go in there and end it before it gets out of hand,” Yasha concluded, drawing her sword. “Easy enough.”
</p><p>“Great, let’s go,” Beau said, jumping over a fallen log and into the city streets, fists ready to pop someone’s jaw. Yasha was quick to follow, a bit more wary, behind. 
</p><p>Mollymauk tapped Caleb’s shoulder until his eyes returned to normal and looked back at him. “Any idea what groups these people are?” he asked while eyeing a separate route. 
</p><p>“Nein,” Caleb replied. “Too obscure to tell. Where are you going?”
</p><p>“Ambushes don’t come in from one spot,” the tiefling replied, pointing towards a parallel street. 
</p><p>“I’m coming with you, then.”
</p><p>“Alright.” 
</p><p>The street was a mess. Stands and benches, buckets and wagons were pushed over, destroyed, or set aflame. The dirt roads, usually full of muck and mud, were almost pushed aside as stampede footprints left the area. Occasionally, a body or two lay face down, the scent of rotting, burnt flesh wafted down the alleyways. Caleb caught his breath in his throat, his hand grasping at Mollymauk as the two trudged on towards the main commotion. Mollymauk could only watch the wizard as he hyper-fixated on the people ahead. He tightened the grip. 
</p><p>The closer they got, it was obvious the breakout was between thief gilds. There were dozens of rogues stabbing at each other; some larger ones simply picking others up and throwing them headfirst into the ground, into the walls, and into the flames. It became increasingly obvious that the two members of the Mighty Nein who went ahead, did not wait for backup, as the monk went flying overhead, her leg swinging around to connect with the skull of a burly old man. Yasha pushed back two thieves with her greatsword, shouting back murderous cusses as the two folks groveled to the dirt. 
</p><p>“Do you see Veth?” Caleb asked as they ducked behind a fallen pile of barrels. 
</p><p>“No, but I think that’s usually a good thing,” Mollymauk said, tracing the rooftops for the halfling. “Well as long as she doesn’t shoot off explosives - that could turn this absolutely sideways. Do you have your spells prepped?” 
</p><p>Caleb trickled a small amount of ore into his palm, whispering arcane mantras into the material. “When don’t I?” he said, standing up to trace a symbol in front of them. 
</p><p>The ground quaked as everyone who was standing struggled to maintain their balance - heap-fulls falling to the ground. Beauregard landed on a man’s face, smacking her staff down on two more. Caleb’s mind flipped over to another spell like clockwork. He dug through his component bag.
</p><p>Mollymauk plunged his hidden blade into a rogue who came up from behind - an ambush on the ambushers, he thought, very original. Kicking the man’s body off his blade and away from Caleb, the tiefling unsheathed his scimitar. 
</p><p>“Are you going to be alright if I fight behind you?” Mollymauk asked, counting the seven rogues who dropped down from the rooftops.
</p><p>“As long as you don’t go too far from me, I’m sure we will get through this,” Caleb replied, casting Enlarge on Beau - who started laughing maniacally. 
</p><p>Mollymauk let out a breathy laugh, trying not to breathe in the disgusting odor of the city. “I’ll try to stay in earshot.” He launched himself at the closest rogue, smacking his scimitar down from above as he dug his dagger between her ribs from below. Quick to nock a bolt in place, he extended the wrist-bow and released the bolt into another thief’s shoulder as they tried to make it to the range attacking wizard. Despite it being a cool day, the fire choked out any chill the wind could have provided. Even dragging his scimitar across his palm, the frost that chipped up over the wound dripped quickly with water. With the sword pulsing with cold energy, resisting the oncoming group was at least something he could handle. 
</p><p>Until one apparently knew magic.
</p><p>As if they were copying Caleb’s spell, one rogue grew three times their size, daggers becoming greatswords as the man kicked Mollymauk to the side in a single movement. The tiefling shattered through a window of a building slowly filling with smoke from its ignited neighbor. He coughed, rubbing the ribs that took the brunt of the impact. 
</p><p>It was a plain looking tavern, nothing big. Chairs were toppled but nothing was outright broken. Mollymauk blew the ash that settled on the floor; it drifted over to the cat spirit, who sat in front of him.
</p><p>“Lucien,” Mollymauk stated. “Friends of yours?” He nodded towards the outside. Slow to get to his feet, he coughed away the increasing smoke. The cat trotted deeper into the tavern, to a doorway, and sat down. “I don’t have time for your games, Lucien,” Mollymauk said. He picked his scimitar up from the floor. 
</p><p>The cat turned in a circle and sat back down at the door. He pawed at it gently. 
</p><p>With a nervous huff, Mollymauk stepped over to the door that looked like any other. The lock on it was unlatched. He opened it, and it creaked with every inch. Stairs, not yet smoked out, led down, where another door was slightly open. The cat leapt down silently and disappeared through it. Glancing back to the window, as he heard Beau’s fist make a connection with the enlarged rogue, Mollymauk quietly stepped down the worn wood stairs. The door at the bottom was engraved with the letters <em> T.T. </em>, he traced them with a nail, and pushed it open. 
</p><p>He didn’t know what to expect. The room was roughly the size of the whole front of the tavern, tables set around - covered in parchments and maps, books stacked up in piles that rivaled Caleb’s. There were drawings pinned to the wood walls, of monsters and cities, symbols that Mollymauk couldn’t place. Spell components and vials by a cauldron sat on a table furthest from the doorway. Only when the tiefling stepped into the room did he notice the hunched over man. 
</p><p>The man was whispering, pouring himself over the books in front of him. His hands shook while he turned pages. Mollymauk looked around for the cat, but it was nowhere to be seen.
</p><p>“We’re coming, we’re coming,” the man was saying. “I see you, Old One, I see you, we’re coming.” Nervous laughter followed while he ripped out pages from a tome. “I see you, I see you.”
</p><p>Mollymauk, almost frozen in place behind the man, suddenly felt watched. His eyes darted about the room, to the drawings on the wall, to some creature whose very being made his head hurt. The eyes, he thought. So many eyes. 
</p><p>“I <em> see </em> you,” the man said once again, louder, clearer. He looked over his shoulder - his mousy brown hair revealing elvish ears. His eyes were bloodshot, veins overtaking green irises. Shadows bore over his features, as Mollymauk determined that there was no ounce of sanity left in this man. 
</p><p>But the interrupted anger ceased as the elf turned to look at Mollymauk, his shaking hands leading him forward as he suddenly was cupping the tiefling’s cheeks, turning his head this way and that. A look of astonishment, of revelation and pure unholy joy rose to the man’s face. 
</p><p>“The Nonagon has returned. You’re here, Lucien!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Eyes of Nine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You ever go into a room, see someone you didn't want to see - and regret absolutely everything? Imagine that, but that someone is ever so happy to see you.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not sure what's up with me and writing scenes that bleed into the next chapter because I write them, usually, in one go and then come back and write the rest of the chapter a few days later. I rewrote the middle of this one twice. Sitting on the back of my best friend's motorcycle as we just drove around, I was sort of thinking: "how much am I going to put Mollymauk through in this chapter?" and then remembered I have a chapter limit of 9 (for the irony and consistency with my 3 symbolism) so this tiefling has a lot coming for him.<br/>What's a one-year-old to do?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> “Lucien!” The man would not let go of Mollymauk’s face once he got a hold of it. “It’s been years since your ascension. Cree thought you wouldn’t come back, but, hahaha, I knew better - I knew you would. My patron - our patron - would never let us down! Tell me, did you see it? How did it feel to look upon Him? Share with me, Lucien, I’ve been working since the Tomb Takers disbanded. Traitors, the lot of them. But I’m still here! I’m still loyal to you!” 
</p>
<p>Mollymauk couldn’t find his tongue. He could only look at the elf, bewildered and slightly alarmed. The man’s clothes were worn down - meticulously washed most likely, so that the fibers were so loose and light in their weave. An old, worn blood red sash was draped across his chest; it didn’t quite match his color palette, possibly something he wore from someone else. Everything about him looked overdone; too clean, but not new. Even his boots, where the stitches were just holding on, were polished.
</p>
<p>“I’ve noticed your markings - on your hand, and here on your neck,” the elf said as he pushed Mollymauk’s hair off his shoulder to reveal the bold red eye amongst the peacock feathers. “You undoubtedly have more - nine? - scored into your flesh.” He pinched at the fabric covering much of Mollymauk’s skin, still murmuring under his breath. “You’re quiet. Startled, perhaps? Didn’t expect your dear old Otis to still be at work, did you? That’s okay, Nonagon - you’ve been away for so long, much more important things on your mind, I’m sure. Like how to free Him - yes?”
</p>
<p>“Free him…?” Mollymauk whispered, staring down at the stranger in utter disbelief. He could feel the heat building on the ceiling; the fire must have reached the tavern. 
</p>
<p>Otis cackled, the dark circles under his eyes brimming with tears of excitement. “Our god will show them all; yes, yes. He will show them all what true power is. And we will be at His side, loyal to the end.” The elf picked at the skin on Mollymauk’s hand, kissing the eye of the serpent in repetition. “Tell me, Nonagon, tell me what it was like to see Him.”
</p>
<p>The small peacock image in his head shouted, <em> danger, danger! </em> but Mollymauk could not find himself to move. “I don’t,” he said, pulling his hand away from the dry, chapped lips of the elf. “I don’t recall. I’m sorry - there was, um, there was an accident.”
</p>
<p>Otis slowly raised his head to look up at the tiefling; strands of the thin brown hair clung to the sweat on his forehead. “An accident?” he asked. A brow twitched as his bloodshot eyes grew wider.
</p>
<p>“Aye,” Mollymauk said, his ears picking up on the crackling of floorboards above them. “An accident. My memories, ah, they aren’t what they used to be. Jumbled, of sorts.”
</p>
<p>The elf stepped back, finger tapping his chin furiously as he looked about the tables in the room. “Cree said you had died; she buried you; she must have done something - a traitor - <em> TRAITOR!</em> ” He slammed his hands on a wooden table; knuckles cracking loudly.
</p>
<p>Mollymauk finally was able to step back, sweat building on his neck. His hand hovered over the hilt of his scimitar. “Otis, we don’t know that. I doubt Cree would-”
</p>
<p>“No wonder she would not learn blood magic - choosing an order - she is loyal to someone else! She could have been a Ghostslayer like yourself; could have been of the Profane Soul,” Otis exclaimed, rushing over to the table he first hung over. “Bloodhunters like us - we understand what suffering is like, what power it gives…” His voice disappeared into hushed mumbles. 
</p>
<p>The lavender tiefling took another step back, hand out towards the door. He didn’t understand why the cat would lead him down here, why he left him alone. The strange depictions on the walls around the room were making his head throb. His hand touched the doorknob.
</p>
<p>In a second, the door slammed shut. Mollymauk looked back at Otis whose hand was outstretched toward him, arcane magic dimming from his fingers. There was a glint in his eyes - a look a parent would give a lost, precarious child.
</p>
<p>“Otis, we have to go. The building is on fire,” Mollymauk said, his voice steady.
</p>
<p>“We can’t go, we won’t. You don’t understand, but I can help you! I’ve been keeping up with all your research, all your journals. Yes, I think I can help you. Bring you back to our senses.” Otis grabbed a small knife on the table.
</p>
<p>The tiefling tried not to bring his anxiety up, but raised a hand out defensively. “I don’t want to hurt you, Otis. You’re unwell.”
</p>
<p>“You can’t hurt me,” the elf replied, not even looking up; and something ticked. Mollymauk didn’t move as Otis approached him. The knife flicked lightly across his cheek, blood trickling onto the blade as the ice followed suit over the scar. “You always preferred the <em> cold </em>, yes, I remember. You made it your everything. Yes, yes, the void is cold too. You’ll remember; I remember.” 
</p>
<p>Mollymauk ticked back, covering his cheek with the palm of his hand. “What are you doing to me?” he asked aloud, not quite to Otis, his eyes catching the eyes of the monster tacked up around the room. It felt different. Unlike the feeling he would get in his chest; though just as uncomfortable without the searing pain of dying. More like, a slow drift to sleep. He healed himself in hopes the feeling would go away. The ice flaked off his cheek.
</p>
<p>“I can watch you,” Otis continued speaking, dripping Mollymauk’s blood into a vial full of a clear liquid by the cauldron. The blood sizzled, dispersing itself in the container. The bloodhunter picked it up. “He granted me this ability; I can see everything you see. You’ll remember and be the Nonagon we all need you to be!” He set his gaze back on the tiefling. 
</p>
<p>“Stop,” Mollymauk said, pushing himself back into a table. Smoke slowly drifted from under the door. “Otis, I said stop.”
</p>
<p>“You’ll thank me after, I know, I know you don’t mean to be angry with me. Drink, Lucien, drink this.”
</p>
<p>“I am <em> not </em> Lucien,” Mollymauk raised his voice. “I said <em> stop! </em>” He pulled a feather from his pouch and with a quick incantation, a wall of forceful air shot up between them. Their hair blew backwards; Mollymauk’s skirts whipping back from the pressure. Papers on tables flew around the room, books hit the wall, and Otis stood with his feet planted, eyes still wide and waiting.
</p>
<p>“Look at you! More power than last I’ve seen!” he shouted over the wind. He smiled proudly. Then his image faded to mist in front of Mollymauk’s eyes as the elf suddenly appeared behind him. “I’ve been getting stronger too,” he said, pulling back on Mollymauk’s braid and quickly tucking the tiefling’s head under his arm. Mollymauk dug his nails into the elf’s skin, dropping his knees in an attempt to dislodge himself from the elf’s hold. Otis pinched the tiefling’s cheeks until his mouth opened, and poured the contents of the vial down his past leader’s throat. 
</p>
<p>To Mollymauk, it tasted revolting - and without intention, the two of them both slipped into the wall of wind and hit the ceiling before the spell faded. They fell across the room. Mollymauk hit the wall, bouncing off the side of a table to the floor. The tiefling gagged, waiting for some sort of poison. Instead, he felt his heartbeat within his head, along with another presence that settled down for the show. Mollymauk pushed himself to his elbows, glaring at the elf on the other side of the room - the elf who laid upside-down on a broken table, smiling at him. 
</p>
<p>“Your mind is lovely,” Otis said, “I can feel it.”
</p>
<p>Mollymauk’s skin dotted with goosebumps as he carefully got to his feet. “Too bad,” he said, “I certainly don’t feel-” <em> Oh. </em> His hand reached out to the closest ledge to catch himself. The sensation in his limbs felt like static. “Otis, please, stop this. I’m <em> really </em> not-” Another cold pulse flashed darkness in front of him. His head hit the stone floor. “I’m not Lucien,” he whispered. The cat sat above him, looking down unblinking, as he drifted off.

</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dark inky pools of locked away memories floated around him, or rather, he floated through them. He could see his hands - without the tattoos he had grown so used to; just plain, filed down nails and cut up arms. He didn’t feel his body as he floated in the Abyss. There was nothing to look at. Just blackness and cold. The entire realm was empty.
</p>
<p> <em> Empty. </em>
</p>
<p>Something hummed in the air - was it air? It was low and heavy and grew louder and more terrifying. The sea of this void vibrated. A red light rose in the distance. It grew larger, above him, yet down at him - another red light slowly grew next to it, bigger still. A city moved towards him - nothing like anything he had ever seen before; monstrously huge. He could do nothing but stare. Mollymauk watched motionless as three, four, no, five lights were above him. As if they could not get any closer, nor any larger, they did - and soon the tiefling realized, as the lights blinked, they were eyes; and in front of him, one, two, three, four more eyes opened - nine red, soulless, empty eyes boring into him. 
</p>
<p> <em> Empty. </em>
</p>
<p>The humming laughed, something that was reminiscent to one Otis gave earlier. And the being itself opened its mouth to speak - 
</p>
<p>And a horrid, excruciating shriek shot through Mollymauk’s ears. The tiefling groveled in the empty space, covering his ears as he yelled back, the pain in his head increasing tenfold. He felt like he was going to pass out. 
</p>
<p>“Just a memory, you’re just a memory,” he repeated, shutting his eyes. He felt each of the monster’s eyes burn into his skin as the creature looked at him, penetrating him. “I don’t even know who you are!”

</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And just like that, the memory snapped - closed like a book, and the inky blackness that overtook his eyes poured out in blood as Mollymauk vomited and choked. He blinked the blood away, coughing at the smoke that was pouring into the room. He smelt the burning wood. Otis’ laughter spilled through the haze.
</p>
<p>“Beautiful! Yes, you saw Him, Nonagon. You’re here to tell the tale! He’s marked you, what a blessing, yes, a blessing,” Otis said, spitting up the blood in his throat. Rolling off the table, there was an indescribable giggle that rose from inside as he touched the blood leaking from his ears. He sauntered over to Mollymauk while the tiefling struggled to stand. “Thank you, Lucien. You’ve made all our hard work worth it.” His bloody smile faltered. “I’ll just have to rid ourselves of those <em> traitors </em> in our group.” Kneeling down, he cupped Mollymauk’s face again, kissing both eyelids. They held each other’s stare for a moment; the tiefling still blinking painfully. Otis grinned. “You have His eyes.” 
</p>
<p>In a moment, Otis was gone. And Mollymauk stared at the fire that took hold of the entire stairwell. The darkness of the smoke was impenetrable. Ice crystals trickled around the dripping blood coming from his eyes, his ears, his nose and mouth. If it wasn’t for the excruciating heat, his entire face would have been frosted over. </p>
<p>Detached, he tried to reach for the ledge of the table that he clung to before.
</p>
<p>A leg swung there, two ringed, lavender hands - one marked with a red eye - folded as a tiefling leaned forward, squinting down at Mollymauk through the fumes. He was dressed in layered black attire, a crisp red sash crossing from underneath a leather capelet. His boots were worn out, unpolished. A small moon pendant dangled from one curved horn.
</p>
<p>“Are you going to get us out of here, or what?” Lucien asked, brow raising.

</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Beau smashed another rogue’s face in just as the Enlarge spell faded. “Pop, pop!” she exclaimed, punching a lady in the crotch and face. “Yasha, watch this!” 
</p>
<p>Yasha paused in choking out another burly fighter to watch the monk flip. “Very cool, Beau,” she cheered. The man fell unconscious under her sword. 
</p>
<p>The remaining rogues stopped almost immediately after, most rushing out of the fray and into the woods surrounding the town where many of the other citizens of Shadycreek Run disappeared to. The rest froze in place, perhaps five of them, staring at each other then over to the handful of Mighty Nein members.
</p>
<p>“Why did we stop killing each other?” Veth asked, nocking another crossbow bolt. She glanced around to Caleb - who had ceased casting in favor of looking around the street in rising concern. 
</p>
<p>“Well, uh,” one of the thieves spoke up. “Ye just popped the boss’s neck; and that other one made the lady boss disappear.” 
</p>
<p>“They’s the ones with the feud,” another rogue spoke up. “We just followin’ orders.”
</p>
<p>Beau stepped over a pile of bodies. “Oh great,” she said. “So you can stop bitching and start putting these fires out. You’re displacing a lot of people!”
</p>
<p>“Y-yes ma’am, sorry.”
</p>
<p>“Ew, don’t ma’am me,” Beau said, nose wrinkling. Wiping the blood off her lip, she walked over to Yasha and Veth, glancing about. “Yo, Caleb! Are you doing okay?”
</p>
<p>Caleb eyed the street behind him, from the bodies to the varied skid marks. Sweat coated his forehead when he glanced at the flames bursting through a broken window of a more-or-less freshly lit building. “Have you three seen Mollymauk?” he asked, his pitch rising. 
</p>
<p>“I thought he was with you,” Yasha said, coming towards him. 
</p>
<p>The wizard eyed the window, his eyes glassy. “Bitte sei nicht da drin,” he breathed and stepped toward the fire. “Bitte, bitte.” The heat pressed against his face as he reached for the window.
</p>
<p>Veth grabbed his legs. “Whoa! Caleb, stop!” She pulled him back, the two stumbling to the ground. A simultaneous crack followed, and heaps of freezing rain poured out from a phantom cloud above the building. Yasha ran forward, pulling the two of them back as the sleet doused the flames, coating the wood in frost and ice for the next heavily drawn out minute. With the last of the storm, light snow flurries drifted lazily to the ground. 
</p>
<p>Mollymauk hobbled through the doorway. Face covered in blood, caked with ash and ice - he quietly looked at his friends who gaped back at him. He stepped off the building’s perron, and fell into the monk vestiges of Beau who moved to catch him before he could even register his legs failing. 
</p>
<p>“Gods, Molly, what the fuck?” Beau said, offering to let them kneel, however the tiefling pressed himself up with her shoulders.
</p>
<p>“I’m okay,” he whispered. “I’m okay. We’re going to be okay…”
</p>
<p>Beauregard eyed the blood dripping from his ears onto her forearm. Brows furrowed, she pulled Mollymauk’s arm over her shoulders and turned to the others - who came rushing up immediately.
</p>
<p>“Mollymauk!” Caleb deplored. His face was twisted, a note away from breaking. “I told you to stay close to me - what…” He paused looking over the blood oozing from every place it could in the body. His stare caught Beau’s. “What did you see, Mollymauk? What happened?”
</p>
<p>Mollymauk shifted uncomfortably, fidgety, and Yasha pulled a cloth from her pouch, dampening it in the melting snow of the doused tavern; she returned to wipe the grime from the tiefling’s face.
</p>
<p>“Are you hurt?” she asked, her voice was low. 
</p>
<p>The cloth gently wiped over his eyelids. 
</p>
<p>“No,” he replied. “I healed some little marks. Are you guys okay?”
</p>
<p>“We’re pretty dandy,” Veth said, poking in between their legs. “You certainly look pretty fucked up though, are you sure?”
</p>
<p>“I, um, ran into someone,” Mollymauk said. He glanced at Caleb, whose tensed shoulders were up. “Thought I was Lucien and, uh, well - he was completely a different level of insanity than Cree is.”
</p>
<p>“Did you two fight?” Veth asked.
</p>
<p>He looked at the dirt. “Not really. I went to, but - he acted like I was just toying with him. I don’t know; he had abilities like Fjord does. A different order of bloodhunter than I am.”
</p>
<p>The four of them looked to the destroyed tavern.
</p>
<p>“Well, is he dead?” Beau took the cloth from Yasha and cleared up the side and back of the tiefling’s face. 
</p>
<p>“No.” Mollymauk’s jaw clicked. 
</p>
<p>“What did you see?” Caleb pressed, still focused on the dried blood. “Was it a city?”
</p>
<p>The tiefling looked up, bewilderment grasping his features. “The city was on his back,” he replied. His hand moved up between them as he looked at the red eye of the serpent that marked the back of his hand. 
</p>
<p>The wind shrieked something fierce through the town street. The five members of the Mighty Nein stumbled sideways, grasping at each other and their ears as the force drove them into the mud. Loose barrels, glass, and clutter careened around them; Yasha quickly pushed herself over the huddled mass of her friends. 
</p>
<p>“If this is that guy you mentioned,” Beau shouted over the wailing, “He’s a real <em> pussy! </em>”
</p>
<p>“I don’t think Otis can do this!” Mollymauk shouted back, digging himself deeper into the mud. “But don’t quote me on that!”
</p>
<p>Something rebounded against the wind. So much that their hair flipped backwards and the snow spun in circles in the sky as the force stopped. Things went still. Dull in their ears, they could still hear some of the wood crackling under surviving fires. Yasha didn’t move from covering the four underneath her; she was ready to rage, tear up anyone or anything that dared to make a move towards them. 
</p>
<p>Caleb touched her hand. “Frumpkin sees the druids are moving in en masse. It seems this wind was not just a fixed point phenomenon,” he said, “And we have company.”
</p>
<p>“There you are!” 
</p>
<p>They all looked up, freshly covered in soot and dirt, to the tall Air Ashari running up to them with a pack of druids on her heels. Worry on her face, she spared a quick glance over the wreck of Shadycreek Run. 
</p>
<p>“Well,” she said, “I’m afraid I can’t let you all remain resting here. The inhabitants of this city fled staggered into the surrounding woods; Miss Ku’ra is defending nearby sacred areas, but we need to spread out to make sure the other sites are not overrun by, well…” Keyleth struggled to find words to describe the people of the city.
</p>
<p>“Criminals, thieves, and murderers?” Beau offered, popping up from under Yasha’s bicep. 
</p>
<p>“Yes,” Keyleth conceded. “Them.”
</p>
<p>The Mighty Nein got to their feet, wiping the mess from their faces. Veth eyed the woods they emerged from, then shifted her glance to west of the town, where the sun slowly inched towards. 
</p>
<p>“Caduceus’ family grove is that way, isn’t it?” she said, counting the miles on her fingers. “They’d be getting a wave of these people bursting in like it’s a Hupperdook party!”
</p>
<p>Keyleth frowned. “That’s a revered home to the Wildmother,” she said. “I’ll join anyone who wishes to warn them. To the rest of you, I suggest defending Ku’ra’s region.” 
</p>
<p>“I’ll go,” Beau said, raising her hand. “We’ll get there the fastest.” 
</p>
<p>The half-elf nodded. “Yes, we will indeed! Mollymauk, get to Ku’ra, then.”
</p>
<p>“Aye, ma’am,” the tiefling replied.
</p>
<p>The Nein should have anticipated the two moon druids to go into territorial mode. The Tempest carefully looped her arm around the monk’s - who looked up to her friends in surprised and timed smugness as the druid dropped a lick of holy water to the ground and the two disappeared in a cloud of mist along with a handful of her druid followers. Mollymauk’s ears flicked at the sound of yelling coming from the woods. His hands hit the ground as he wild shaped into a dark dire wolf - a howl resonating deep within his throat. 

</p>
<p> </p>
<p>	Yasha figured something was wrong just watching the way Mollymauk’s ears flicked nervously towards any sound through the trees. They had already sent three people back from the forest; the young individuals went more or less peacefully, merely wanting to get away from the chaos in the streets. She ran her hand up through the fur at the wolf’s shoulder and gave it a little scratch. The direwolf tail returned a gentle waggle. 
</p>
<p>	“I got a message from Jester!” Veth said, hiding within a nearby bush. “They’re doing okay. Caduceus’ family, and I’m quoting, ‘kicks major ass.’ I told her we were also kicking ass, in various levels of honesty. Cuz honestly I was hoping to shoot some more bad guys, but, I mean, diplomacy is fine.” 
</p>
<p>	Mollymauk’s wolf ears perked forward as he lifted his eyes upward to an owl Caleb, ending his polymorph spell to land. He smoothed down his hair, looking at each of his three friends.
</p>
<p>	“There are a couple gatherings of people - some look less kind than others,” he whispered, pointing out the different directions he scouted on his flyby. “I suggest taking on the armed ones first. They appeared quite ready to make a mess out of the place.”
</p>
<p>	“We shouldn’t underestimate anyone out here,” Yasha replied. “Even those who look unarmed could be -”
</p>
<p>	“Ja, you’re right.” Caleb rubbed at his chin. “Though splitting up wouldn’t be the best idea. Especially if mages are in the mix.”
</p>
<p>	“Guys,” Veth said, raising her hand.
</p>
<p>	“Both Mollymauk and I could heal if we did split off, but yeah, I don’t think it would be best…”
</p>
<p>	“Guys.”
</p>
<p>	“Well, we can not just stand here trying to decide while they keep moving deeper.”
</p>
<p>	“Are you guys not noticing Molly is running circles around you all?” Veth said, pointing out the wolf stalking around them as both Caleb and Yasha subconsciously had stepped closer and closer to each other. “I’m sensing a corral!” 
</p>
<p>	Caleb looked at Mollymauk and then down to his spellbook. “I’m running low on spells, but ja, not a bad idea.”
</p>
<p>	“Get them to where we want them and flush them out,” Yasha narrated aloud. “And if they don’t move, I’ll start swinging. Great!” She removed her sword from her back. 
</p>
<p>	“Pack allies,” Caleb said briefly, casting polymorph once more, shifting into a rust-furred dire wolf, mirroring Mollymauk. Wolf-Caleb stepped in line behind the darker wolf, who in turn had turned around to look at him.
</p>
<p>	“Oh, boy,” Veth said while loading up her crossbow. “Wild shape meets polymorph.”
</p>
<p>	Mollymauk let the wolf sniff him while he thought through Caleb’s polymorph ability. Most other people-turning-into-animals around him typically could communicate one way or another, but the two magics featured different fallbacks. <em> “You’d talk to me if you could, right?”</em> he asked the red wolf. 
</p>
<p>	Wolf-Caleb blinked.
</p>
<p>	<em> “Oh, aye, aye. Low intelligence,”</em> wolf-Mollymauk said, flicking his ears. <em> “No worries, just follow me.”</em> He looked at Yasha and Veth and bobbed his head - taking off to the left of where the wizard had pointed out the furthest Shadycreek citizen. 
</p>
<p>	The paths between low hanging trees were some of the tiefling’s favorites when he went exploring through Ku’ra’s region. The branches dipped so low that very little sun was able to peak in, so all the shrubbery beneath was small and widely placed out to catch any light they could. Small druidic runes were left on stones following this path; some were just simple messages left behind, others gave tricks and cheats to some cantrips to practice. He remembered learning how to control the druid spells he was taught, trying hard not to fall back on the tricks he inadvertently knew from his bloodhunter past. 
</p>
<p>	<em> So many eyes. </em>
</p>
<p>	Mollymauk huffed, shaking his head as the two wolves stalked around the people gathered in open areas of the forest. He lifted his snout to the sky and howled, leading the dire wolf behind him to howl on pure instinct. The trespassers stood up together, nervously glancing about the treeline before backing up and heading east to where the other humans were clustered. The wolves circled around, keeping up the pack guise. 
</p>
<p>It took all but thirty minutes to get most of the Shadycreek citizens back on the trail towards the city. Yasha only had to dismember one makeshift leader of a group for the rest of them to retreat to their home. Veth joined in the wolf howling out of sheer joy for the panic it caused the petty thieves she stalked. Midday, Mollymauk watched from atop a stone mound, content that the people had not explored too deeply into the groves. The red wolf bumped in next to him, seemingly uninterested in the people below, awaiting what it’s wolf-sized brain considered the leader would do next. The spell would fade in another half hour, if Mollymauk recalled the limit correctly. And his wild shape would last another two. 
</p>
<p>“You’re being watched,” Lucien said, sitting by him, his legs dangling over the rocks. He picked at his nails with his fang. Mollymauk stiffened before moving to bite at the empty space the spirit once was. The cat-spirit then formed at the bottom of the mound, flicking its tail up before disappearing once more. 
</p>
<p>Ears up, the dire wolf waited and listened. 
</p>
<p>Birds in the trees, a squirrel burrowing its way out of its winter home, the wind, the bees. Nothing was out of the ordinary. 
</p>
<p>Or so he thought.
</p>
<p>The peacock spirit waited between budding bushes before locking eyes with the wolf. He hadn’t seen the spirit that represented Molly since the time the silver thread that kept his scar closed had loosened. Mollymauk turned around toward it, Caleb in tow, and briskly followed as the peacock ran into the woods. Something didn’t settle right in Mollymauk’s heart, watching the spirit blink in and out of the Material plane. Through the trees they dodged and weaved. The smell of dew kicked up with the undisturbed dirt. Eight paws skidded to a halt as Mollymauk recognized the area where the peacock disappeared. 
</p>
<p>It was where he first met Ku’ra. The open field with the bundle of rocks in the center - where he foolishly sat a whole year ago. The druids were reluctant to tell him it was where they offered contributions to the gods; but Ku’ra twisted it to say it was where the Moonweaver offered him in return. 
Mollymauk carefully stepped through the earth about the field. The area was mostly undisturbed, save for a few animal tracks passing through. Caleb followed, sniffing everything they walked by. 
</p>
<p>The birds had stopped chirping. 
</p>
<p>And a breeze coasted through the tree branches. 
</p>
<p>Mollymauk stepped back; his heart picked up a pace. <em> “Caleb, we’re leaving,”</em> he told the other wolf, turning to face him. 
</p>
<p>The shift in the wind led a black blur straight into the side of Caleb’s wolf form - leather boots striking ribs - as a hard crack whipped back like thunder. The wolf was sent sideways, barreling into tree trunks; the polymorph immediately ceased, leaving a groveling human in its wake. The black blur had its wings extended - onyx feathers catching an oil sheen in the sun. Mollymauk lowered his body as a growl emitted between his fangs. The figure, looking at Caleb, turned to him - the mask of a raven with black eyes staring back. Folding its wings in, the champion of the Raven Queen cocked its head.
</p>
<p>“You’re a lot harder to find than I thought,” the man said, almost a laugh, through the layers of armor, feathers, beads and bone. Through the dangling pieces on his person, it was astonishing the silence at which he moved. “No more of these games.” Two daggers slid down into his hands, ashened fingers dancing the blades through themselves. 
</p>
<p>Mollymauk watched as the waxing crescent moon rose in the sky behind the shadow of the champion as they both stooped low.
</p>
<p>“The Matron demands your return, Mollymauk Tealeaf.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sehanine showing up to the arena: "KICK HIS ASS!"<br/>cue Pacific Rim fight music.</p>
<p>Y'all, let me tell you when I was making Mollymauk's updated character sheet for reference, and then I looked over at Vax'ildan's level 20 sheet... Aha. We love ~level 13 vs level 20 fights, those are totally fair.<br/>And guys GUYS I love Vax, I know he's an antagonist right now and he seems all broody, but trust me, trust me, I love him - I got this.<br/>Oh... and Caleb? I love him too. He's uh... He's going to have a time. No worries - he's down to very few spell slots, and Mollymauk's already used some too, so we know the fight is going to go just great!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Silver Lining</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey guys! Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I really wanted to get it up last week but so many things happened all at once and I had a hard time finding spare moments to write a little bit and a little bit more. If the chapter feels all over the place then it's because it's written over sixteen days sporadically. I had a death in the family, and then work really got crazy, and I just couldn't bring myself to keep writing when I had no thoughts on what I was doing.<br/>But I'm pulling myself together now - working on cosplay to keep my mind occupied in the meantime so that's been fun! Watching CR has been insane and I am both excited and nervous on what will happen next.<br/>Thank you all for your patience, and for sticking with me through Mollymauk's journeys so far!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It felt different seeing him this close and under the morning sky instead of within a hazy, clouded nightmare. His hair, whatever long strands fell out of the feather hood that shrouded his face, was black, but shined auburn in the midday sun. From what Mollymauk’s dire wolf nose could pick up, the Raven Queen champion smelt like the environment around him, with a pinch of leather and dusting of death. They watched each other’s movements, as tight and miniscule as they were. Every glance at the unconscious wizard by the trees sacrificed a few inches of space that the champions were narrowing. Mollymauk’s claws dug into the dirt. 
</p><p>	“You can come peacefully,” the champion of death said, “we do not have t-”
</p><p>	The wolf lunged for his arm, willing to bite the ligament clean off if he got a good enough hold of the thing. The rogue reacted quickly, too quickly, and retracted his arm enough that only Mollymauk’s teeth scraped through to his skin. He did not stop at the taste of blood in his mouth, lunging again with his full weight, clawing and biting at the man’s face. He knew in this form he was stronger; with all his force, he pushed the man to the ground. With Caleb around, Mollymauk knew he didn’t have time to delay a fight; he had to keep some spells available to heal him and get out of here. 
</p><p>	A burning sensation pierced his underbelly. The Raven Queen’s champion pulled out the dagger and with a heavy grunt, thrusted it back in. Mollymauk bit deeper into the arm that kept his teeth away from the rogue’s face, debating how much of the poison’s pain he was willing to take before retreating from this vulnerable spot. His insides were on fire - blood coating the fur around the wounds and dripping onto the man below him. Mollymauk felt his wild shape falter, and tore himself off, making a wide circle away into the taller grass closer to the stones. More options would come to him once he shifted back into himself, but if this man was as powerful as Sehanine described him to be, then it would be smarter to let the health of his wolf-form drain before using his own life. 
</p><p>	The rogue flipped up to his feet, holding the arm that took the brunt of the damage. There was somewhat of a smile beneath the curvature of the mask; nothing of a mad person, but more of a pleasant surprise. “Okay,” he said, shrugging his cloak off his shoulders. “I understand.” He switched out his daggers faster than the mind could manage to process. “We want to talk? Let’s talk.” He took a step - and suddenly appeared in front of the direwolf, rounding his leg in a kick, and his arm with the dagger that began to glow a sharp gold. 
</p><p>	Mollymauk couldn’t dodge it, and he knew he couldn’t dodge it - merely bracing for the impact of the sharp radiant energy that sent him back first into the stone table. His wild shape dropped, and his skin skidded across the rock. He felt the pain seer into his side, deeper than a sunburn. 
</p><p>	“So, Mollymauk - can I call you Molly?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk winced, pushing himself off the sacred table. “No,” he said, gritting his fangs. 
</p><p>	“Very well.” The champion allowed the tiefling to stand, eyeing the clothing and weaponry his objective had on him. He didn’t seem like much, he thought, but the Raven Queen did not allow improper revivals of those who died a mortal’s death. That being said, the tiefling sure wasn’t going to make it easy for him despite his disadvantages. “This isn’t a punishment,” he told the tiefling. “It’s just what has to be; everything must come to an end.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk adjusted the helmet he wore around his growing horns, feeling the carved druidic and arcane symbols in the edges. It was his primary armor on him, wearing plating or padding wasn’t something he was quite accustomed to when metals were not a material the druids worked with. His eyes scanned the rogue’s leather armor, looking for openings and weak points. The words that emanated from under the raven mask made him chuckle - he was nervous, listening to him; the dreams from just a few weeks ago fresh in his mind. His hand reached back, fingers coiling around his scimitar. 
</p><p>	“You have no right to be here,” Mollymauk spat, sliding his finger along the edge of the blade behind his back. “You have no right to injure my friend if I am your target; you have no right!” 
</p><p>	The half-elf glanced back at the red-head laying in the grass. “He’s still breathing. That’s on me, I wasn’t quite sure which wolf you would be. Fifty-fifty shot, I guess -”
</p><p>	He brought his dagger up to parry a frozen sword crushing down onto the thin surface of his blade. Mollymauk was furious. 
</p><p> <em>“Fifty-fifty shot?”</em> the tiefling screamed. The small hidden blade tucked into his other arm’s bracer extended silently, and Mollymauk dug it into the man’s ribs. He kept his hand to the other’s ribcage for as long as he could - digging in the ice and frost as he branded the rogue with the hemocraft glyph of castigation. The half-elf threw his knee up into Mollymauk, spitting blood in the process. 
</p><p>	Mollymauk slid back, clutching his chest as the rogue disappeared from his sight. The arcane energy from his branding floated around him, to behind him, and then again to the side. Huffing, the tiefling stepped lightly away from the stones, crouching deeper into the grass. Should he risk using the time to check on Caleb, he thought, when the rogue was stalking about the treeline waiting for a sneak attack? He kept the branding energy behind him, listening to changes in wind and for the mark to stop moving. 
</p><p>	His scimitar caught the brunt of the daggers just as he twisted around. The rogue seemed genuinely surprised in the second-long glimpse Mollymauk saw of the speckled brown eyes behind the mask. 
</p><p>	The tiefling blinked and the champion was behind him, ripping his back open with a deep cut of a jagged dagger. 
</p><p>	“Wha-?” Mollymauk breathed, feeling his energy sucked away from him as if he had been fighting for hours. He saw the rogue half-step back, blinking back the psychic damage that rebounded to him. <em>“Leave me alone!”</em> he cursed in Infernal - igniting the feathers on the half-elf’s person. The rogue tumbled the rebuke’s flames out in a flurry of movement. Ice crystals beaded at the tiefling’s back, but the blood poured out in volumes. 
</p><p>	Going in for another attack, the half-elf threw dagger after dagger, as if an endless arsenal were strapped on his person. Mollymauk parried one, another cut through the side of his thigh; he stumbled back, tracing an arcane circle in the air as he watched the rogue pull two more blades from his side. He clapped - sending out a wave of thunder, shaking the earth beneath the two of them. The man was pushed back, and the boom of the spell sent the birds along the surrounding trees to take off. There was blood dripping from his bit-through lip. 
</p><p>	“Druid magic,” the half-elf chuckled, sweat beading from under the mask. “Yes, I suppose I was warned you had practiced the craft. My mistake.” 
</p><p>	Mollymauk’s fingers trembled through his pouch on his thigh, grabbing seeds and a stone as inconspicuous as he could. If he used a stronger spell, he could make a distraction in hopes of escaping - although it would mean he couldn’t heal Caleb as much as he needed. He glanced towards the human. The breeze rustled the red hair. If they were lucky, Yasha and Veth would have heard the thunder crack and would be looking for them. Or maybe, he thought, it wouldn’t be lucky for them to get in the Raven Queen champion’s way. 
</p><p>	The tiefling threw up a moonbeam as the rogue appeared before him - both deity-touched entities lit up in silver flames. The druidic runes on Mollymauk’s helmet glowed, a shield protecting him from the searing pain that the other endured. 

</p><p> </p><p>It was a pattern; whatever the tiefling threw at him as the moonbeam followed every move, the half-elf rebounded with strikes that dealt just as much pain. They parried each other across the field, blood from both dyeing the wet grass red. 
</p><p>	“Mollymauk,” the rogue said, his mask cracked as feathers drifted off his frame. “I haven’t had this much fun in a fight in a very long time, but I think it’s time for this to end. My matron is running low on patience.” He dislodged Mollymauk’s scimitar from his hand, sending it sideways into the trees.
</p><p>	Mollymauk huffed, wiping the blood and mud out of his eyes. He continued to inch backwards on the ground. “What’s your name?” he asked, his arm drifting behind him.
</p><p>	“Vax’ildan,” the man replied earnestly. “I understand you wouldn’t remember after so long.”
</p><p>	“Aye, remembering,” Mollymauk said, closing a hand around a simple stick. Clouds began to roll in from beyond the moons; the sun disappeared. “That seems to be something I’m quite inefficient at.” Shillelagh overtook the wood, and the tiefling pitched it at the rogue like a javelin. 
</p><p>	Vax’ildan caught it. A sad smile crossed his face. “I would have fought back too,” he said, “You gave a valiant try -”
</p><p>	Mollymauk pointed his outstretched hand.
</p><p>	The lightning bolt blasted down on the half-elf, the bright light blinding the two of them as Mollymauk felt the surge through the damp ground. But he knew where everything was here, he could traverse it blindfolded. Rolling away from the steaming opponent, Mollymauk booked it to his companion by the tree. Knees skidding along the mud until he felt his hands touch the wizard’s jacket. 
</p><p>	“Caleb,” he uttered. He dropped his highest ability in casting cure wounds and healing word, counting his one druid spell remaining until he would have to solely rely on his bloodhunter capabilities. With how much energy he had left in him, however, sacrificing any more blood would be it.
</p><p>Lucien leaned on the tree, stretching while reclining back. “Y’know,” he said, staring at the blood-covered tiefling. “You can ask for my help.”
</p><p>Mollymauk rubbed Caleb’s back as the human huffed in pain, the magic mending his broken ribs. “Why would I,” he whispered back, trying not to look at the spirit in the eye as his vision slowly returned to him. “All you’ve done today is lead me to places where I’ve been injured and scarred.”
</p><p>“Excuse you - this was the peacock. But we can talk now,” Lucien replied, leaning forward. “You’ve lived part of my life. I’m in your head. You’re in <em>my</em> body, but I can forgive that - I’m here for you!”
</p><p>Mollymauk felt the brand of castigation begin to move again from behind - Vax’ildan was recovering. 
</p><p>“The Moonweaver <em>made</em> me here for you,” Lucien added, extending a hand. “Let me help.”
</p><p>Caleb stirred from the ground, his face caked in the mud he laid in - hair loose from the ribbon he used to tie it back. He shoved his elbow under him, gritting his teeth as he pushed himself up. That would certainly be the last time he polymorphed for a while. He looked up, alarmed, at the severity of his friend before him; shirt all but torn off, where there was skin showing was cut up and bleeding - his face bruised and swollen, covered with black veins of settling poison. 
</p><p>“Mein gott,” he breathed. “Mollymauk.” His eyes caught the figure approaching behind the tiefling, dark wings unlike Yasha’s unfurling as the man with half a burning mask slid a blade into his palm; Caleb recognized the quick use of lay on hands as a golden light snuffed into the stranger as he approached. “Who is that?”
</p><p>“He doesn’t matter right now,” Mollymauk replied, wincing as he sent another lightning bolt down at the champion, cursing as he missed the mark by mere inches. “Can you run?”
</p><p>“Not without you,” Caleb said, getting to a knee. He watched his friend continue to peer over to the tree in sore deliberation. His hands grabbed for string in his component bag. Caleb had enough arcana to manage two more spells for the day, knowing cantrips wouldn’t be enough to put down an opponent that did so much damage to Mollymauk and was still standing.
</p><p>Lucien wiggled his fingers. “We won’t last another hit,” he said, his mischievous smirk falling into a frown. “Let’s go, <em>Champion</em>, we have other things to get to.”
</p><p>Mollymauk watched Caleb quickly prep a spell, his words blending into a drone as a loud hum clogged his ears. His eyelids felt so heavy as he carefully reached out to the incorporeal image of his past life; his fingers lit up softly in silver etchings, tracing up his arm passed his elbow and over his shoulder as his tattoos were overtaken by ethereal markings of celestial imagery, the clouds, stars, stardust, and planets - like carvings - cast shadow over the skin underneath; the tiefling felt the mark of Sehanine between his horns grow warm. He held onto Caleb’s shoulder with his other hand as he fully grasped Lucien’s - the spirit gone in a blink.
</p><p>Vax’ildan stopped as Mollymauk and his ally disappeared from his sight completely. An invisibility spell, surely, but even within the capability of the gifts the Raven Queen bestowed him - he could not pinpoint where the death-avoidant was. 
</p><p>	Fire ignited from the ground, quickly weaving pathways to him from where he saw the two vanish. They licked up his legs and through the armor he wore. Vax’ildan cursed, throwing a last ditch dagger at the tree - it struck the bark, missing any invisible creature. The champion fell silent under the flames; he gripped the raven skull dangling from a chain around his neck.

</p><p> </p><p>Mollymauk, hand still attached to Caleb’s shoulder, dragged the two of them away, into the woods and down a steep, narrow cavity between rocks; not many people traveled through the chasm, but it was a quick, sheltered way back to the grove. The tiefling was half-conscious, his grip on the human turning into a support while the Moonweaver’s divine magic pulsed through the markings along his skin; the glow casting no light on the rocky walls. Caleb, brows knitted into a concerned arch, tucked his arm under the other’s. 
	</p><p>“Mollymauk,” he said, lifting the tiefling slightly. Caleb was pulled another few steps, listening to his friend force a breath through his teeth. “Mollymauk, stop.”
	</p><p>“He could still be following us,” Mollymauk replied. He pushed them forward, rock by rock. 
	</p><p>Caleb fell silent for a moment, then blinked. “Frumpkin doesn’t see anyone, Mollymauk. You need to stop, please. Liebling, please stop.” He had already studied the strange etches on the tiefling’s bare skin; the incredible silver aura that pulsated from the entirety of his form. It was something familiar, but nothing like he had seen in person before; based in illusion, he assumed that to the outside world, neither of them existed in concrete reality. It was nothing close to an ability that Mollymauk could have learned from the druids, and certainly not a bloodhunter feature. Caleb wiped the crusted mud from his face. “You have to heal yourself, bitte, just a little; whatever you can. I can’t watch you <em>die</em> again, Mollymauk.”
</p><p>	The tiefling stopped; his heart hammered in his ears. All he could smell was the dry scent of iron that plugged his nose. The poison from the blade stung every other step; the hope that they would run into a friend who could rid him of that stuck in his mind. But Caleb was alive; he was alright and that was his goal in the end. He wasn’t really thinking about the consequences if he himself were to die instead. He would have happily done it for the human.
</p><p>	Glancing back to Caleb - with the wizard’s tired, dirty face and pleading blue eyes - Mollymauk couldn’t imagine what he would do if he couldn’t have healed the man.
</p><p>	A small wind swept up the coat of a blurred individual behind Caleb. A coat of red and blue, where crescent moons shimmered in the reemerging sun. A tiefling with curled hair around his face, jewelry hanging off of every point - he stood atop the chasm rocks, looking down with a bittersweet smile.
</p><p>	“Mollymauk,” Caleb said again, pulling the tiefling’s short-attention back to in front of him. 
</p><p>	“Oh,” he breathed, slowly letting his knees buckle. The human had him securely, he knew he would - they always did. “I suppose I am bleeding a lot, aren’t I?” He lifted his arms where the blood dripped from under the arcane symbols. What he had left wasn’t much, but the tiefling, wrapping his arms around himself in a tight hug, spent the last druid spell he had prepared on healing some of the wounds, although the half-elf’s poison still sat within his blood, untouched by the magic. 
</p><p>	Caleb ran a cautious hand over the poison’s path. “Caduceus or Jester can fix this,” he said. Looking around the chasm, his brow only creased deeper. “If they get back from the grove soon, that is.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk breathed deep. The wizard’s hands were coarse on his cheek, but warm. A light chuckle gurgled its way up his throat. Caleb looked back, perplexed.
</p><p>	“What is it?” he asked.
</p><p>	“You aren’t going to ask what the fuck is all <em>this?</em>” Mollymauk replied, holding his arms up as he gestured to himself. Blood continued to drip along the edge of Caleb’s trousers. “Or why we both mentioned that creature and the city on its back earlier?”
</p><p>	“Nein,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “Personally, none of us know what that thing was. The imagery was disturbing, but the knowledge is even beyond me at the moment. And this,” he motioned to the ethereal imagery, “I was not going to pry into whatever deal you made that night.”
</p><p>	“That night?” Mollymauk repeated. He looked over Caleb’s face, the tiredness below his blue eyes. The tiefling’s jaw clicked. “Frumpkin,” he said. “You were looking through Frumpkin when I was at the lake.”
</p><p>	“You had just been healed, I was worried.”
</p><p>	“So you saw…?”
</p><p>	He shook his head, giving a heavy shrug. “I only saw you swim into the water. You went under the surface. I had almost woken up everyone when you were under for so long, but -” He paused, remembering the imagery. Mollymauk leaned forward as his voice lowered. “You appeared above the lake, unlike a teleportation or a blink, it was gradual - as if you manifested there, just suspended for another moment. Gods, you were <em>bea- </em> haunting. Like a dream.” Caleb glanced up at the red eyes that fluttered so close to his face.
</p><p>	“And then I fell.”
</p><p>	“And then you fell,” he confirmed. His finger picked at the blood drying on his pants. Quietly, he slid his coat off, the inside - dirty as the outside was - was more or less clean. He pulled it around the tiefling and over his bare shoulders. The glow kept to Mollymauk’s skin, confirming that they were very much invisible to anyone else. 
</p><p>	“I can tell you have questions,” Mollymauk said.
</p><p>	Caleb huffed. “Ja, I do.”
</p><p>	“You can ask them.”
</p><p>	“Does whatever deal you made have anything to do with that thing attacking you?”
</p><p>	“Uh, no - well, aye, sort of, but no. I’m afraid he’s been after me since before; well before, I’d say. Possibly since I woke up.” He winced at the poison as it took more energy right out of him. Caleb pulled the tiefling’s arm around his shoulder and got the two of them to their feet. 
</p><p>	“Why? How does he know you?” he continued to ask, yet also determined to get him closer to their friends.
</p><p>	“He thinks I cheated death or something; the Raven Queen is pissed or whatever,” Mollymauk replied. “And I didn’t cheat death!” he added, “I’m no lich.”
</p><p>	Caleb nodded - it was something Caduceus had confirmed along with other concerns back when they reunited. He knew this Mollymauk was different, very much so, from the Molly they had let go of so long ago. But that topic did not come up, and so the wizard refrained from it in fear that his friend would shy away.
</p><p>	“He will keep coming for me, Mister Caleb,” Mollymauk said, staring ahead of their path. “The Moonweaver all but confirmed it to me.” The sigils flickered as the hour passed, their two shadows slowly forming next to them as the sun arched overhead. His skin back to its lavender hue, the extent of his injuries that his healing spell did not touch plain to the eye.
</p><p>	The human clicked his jaw, keeping an eye about them. “From what I’ve seen, the Moonweaver is very powerful; you are very powerful, Mollymauk. And me - us - the Nein, we have your back - like you had ours that night in the cave. You aren’t going anywhere, ja?”
</p><p>	“Aye, not at the moment,” he replied jokingly, tripping over his own feet. His hand squeezed Caleb’s arm. “Have you been working out? Lifting more books lately?”
</p><p>	Astonished, but not surprised the tiefling still had the energy to jest, Caleb pulled him up and adjusted his hand to the other’s waist to steady him. “Ja, actually, I have been.”
</p><p>	“Oh.”
</p><p>	Blush smothered the bloodhunter’s face under the dirt and grime. He ducked his head so his helmet’s horns blocked his face. The peacock would have lost it, he thought - had he been following the two at the safe distance of right behind them, unnoticed, mute to the heartbeat thrumming in the tiefling’s ears. 
</p><p>	A shadow of wings flew overhead.
</p><p>	The two boys shoved themselves to the ground, stumbling over each other as they shimmied under the shade of a hanging stone. Mollymauk extended his bracer’s bow, readying a bolt while Caleb shoved him further behind; their breathing paused as two heavy boots hit the ground within the chasm. The shadow of the wings folded in.
</p><p>	“Where’d you guys go?” the soft, chest-heavy voice echoed quietly through the walls.
</p><p>	“Yasha,” Caleb sighed. Mollymauk de-nocked. The two of them poked their heads out of the cover. The aasimar carried Veth in an arm.
</p><p>	“Caleb! Molly! You’re alive!” Veth cried, climbing down. She ran to them, slamming into their legs as the four gathered together. “We’ve been trying to contact you for hours!”
</p><p>	“We heard the thunder,” Yasha said. Her hands found themselves on Mollymauk’s cheeks, giving a little healing boost. “What happened? We were supposed to meet up, weren’t we?”
</p><p>	“Let’s get out of here,” Caleb replied, “Reconvene with the others.”

</p><p> </p><p>Caduceus’ hands were hot against his back as he cast the rest of the healing and restoration spells the tiefling really needed. Stragglers from Shadycreek Run had indeed infiltrated the Clay family’s grove; kicking over tombs and snatching anything they could as they ran from the commotion of fellow thieves. With the arrival of Beau, Keyleth, and the other druids - the residence was cleared out in the matter of minutes. Many worked on cleaning up the mess. The air ashari left once more to check in on the other druid factions scattered throughout the northern forests and rivers, and found the four members of the Mighty Nein huffing to get to their friends. She stood amongst the group as Mollymauk quietly worked on stitching up his skirts that tore in his fight. For whatever wounds on him that did not heal, his clerics worked on stitching the dagger openings closed. Caleb recounted all he could to the others, his hands warming on the tea that the Clay’s generously gave him.
	</p><p>“And you’re sure he had a raven’s mask?” Keyleth asked once more. She nibbled on her thumb nail, an arm wrapped around herself. 
	</p><p>“Ja, it was unmistakable,” he replied. He noted the druid’s hundred mile stare at the ground. “Do you know of him?”
	</p><p>Keyleth glanced his way, and said nothing. She instead, quickly turned about - deep in thought - and disappeared into the trees momentarily. 
</p><p>	Jester ran out of the house with a pile full of clean linens and a bucket of water - impossibly balanced on each other. Atop the linens was soap. And she indelicately smacked the soap to Caleb’s face.
</p><p>	Caduceus cut the thread he used to suture the gaping wound in Mollymauk’s stomach - one he took whilst in wild shape. He eyed the tiefling, who laid down for the procedure, stitching away at his clothes above his face, concentrated to not pay attention to the pain. A furry hand carefully lifted the fabric up to see the tiefling’s face.
</p><p>	“Are you alright?” he asked. “Your ethereal eye is bloodshot, I wonder if you broke a vessel or something.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk held his thread between his teeth, snapping the end with a fang. “I don’t know.” He opened the skirt’s back panel to inspect the work, making sure the paintings he had done months ago were not completely ruined by the chaos of the morning. He hadn’t just studied the conglomerate of images in a while - they were painted sporadically, with whatever pictures came to mind. So many were representative of his friends - the delicate emblem of their group ceremoniously painted in the center; a button, flowers, a paw print - Mollymauk pinched the light fabric between his fingers.
</p><p>	He had painted a red eye.
</p><p>	A red eye with little detail - full and empty, and large. 
</p><p>	Lucien leaned over him, tapping his finger to his pursed lips. “Now isn’t that just coincidentally interesting?” 
</p><p>	Mollymauk sat up, and immediately regretted it.
</p><p>	Caduceus supported his back, “Careful! Careful,” he said, holding a piece of linen to the suture. “It’ll take a little while before these dissolve. He pulled another cloth from the pile silently, wiping the drop of blood that blinked out of the off-color eye of the tiefling. “Mm, I don’t think you’re alright. Your skull’s flowers are drooping.”
</p><p>	“I think my head is overstimulated,” Mollymauk whispered, leaning into the firbolg. 
</p><p>	“I understand,” the cleric replied. He propped his hand to rest it at the base of the other’s neck, rubbing the muscle gently. “My sister, Clarabelle, is preparing a room for you all to rest here for a while. Miss Ku’ra is very well and will be joining us soon - if that helps.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk nodded into the folds of Caduceus’ tunic. If all his family was accounted for then it was one less issue weighing on his mind. “I think we have to go to Zadash,” he said, picking his head up. Caduceus looked at him confused - his question interrupted by the return of Keyleth.
</p><p>	She pulled an acorn from her closed hand and bent down to Mollymauk in the middle of the group. As he put his hand out, she dropped it in his palm. “Crush this,” she said, “at the next instance you see the Raven Queen’s champion.”
</p><p>	It wasn’t a large acorn, no bigger than the tip of his thumb. He rolled it around, and tapped it with a nail. “It’s hollow,” he noticed.
</p><p>	Keyleth nodded. “I will know where you are when it is crushed, and will come as quickly as I can.” Her smile was true, but her eyes read nervous. The half-elf stood up straight, glancing about the resting Nein. “I have some errands to run,” she said, taking up her staff. “But I hope to see you all soon.”
</p><p>	They watched her excuse herself with a polite bow before she went over to the moon druids to do the same. The Mighty Nein swiveled their attention back to the acorn resting in the tiefing’s hand. Fjord and Beau sat down with them - having watched from inside the Clay residence as they were helping pick up broken glass and fix furniture.
</p><p>	“That’s not like one of Veth’s explosives, is it?” Fjord asked, triggering Veth to lean out from behind Caleb and Jester to potentially stake her claim. “I was joking; do not.” He pointed a finger out in light warning. The rogue retreated back while the rest of the team sat in silence, uneasy glances to one another. Fjord puffed out his cheeks. “Did I miss something - what’s happening - why are we quiet?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk looked from the acorn to the unintentional painting of the eye on his skirt. He couldn’t quite decide which entity scared him more. One he could comprehend, but still had his ass handed to him sideways, while the other was untouchable - a terrible mystery - with an old past life’s colleague ready to commit unknown atrocities to whoever tries to stop him. He sighed, pulling his hand in, carefully placing the nut atop his cleaned clothes. Taking the linen from Caduceus, he laid back down, unceremoniously placing his head on Fjord’s lap like a pillow. 
</p><p>	“I think we’re all just getting hungry,” he said, locking Caleb’s concern in the corner of his eye. 

</p><p> </p><p>	The Blooming Grove was slightly warmer than Ku’ra’s despite being located further north. It could have been the lack of a stream, or maybe the copious refills of cups of tea - a seemingly never ending supply. Everyone was careful of the number of tombstones placed around the house - small tents or magical huts were pitched near tiny fires as everyone cooked a meal for the evening. Through the thick treetops, the moons poked their light into the grove, lighting the grass in a silver glow. It was good to rest after the extremity of the morning - on a day that they expected to be relaxing and lethargic before taking on another day they hoped would be just as lazy. 
</p><p>	Mollymauk sat by a fire, still stitching away at the tears in his skirt, a purring Frumpkin nestled atop his crossed legs. Yasha plucked at her harp, providing an eerie yet serene melody for the company. Jester, while waiting for her paint to dry, knelt by her tiefling friend, carefully filing and polishing his horns as they began to slope backward. They listened to the aasimar play while Beau recounted a time from her years in the monastery. She leaned into her story, throwing her hands wherever they needed to be as she punched the air and slammed an imaginary skull into her knee. Her fist flew past Caleb’s face; he leaned back quickly, head buried into his journal, but very much aware of the casualties the Nein have had before when Beauregard was storytelling. Veth returned from another campfire with a handful of extra food to throw on top of the hot stone. She nudged herself between Caleb and Fjord - who in turn passed a blanket over to Jester, who happily tucked it around Mollymauk’s shoulders while he distracted himself. Caduceus patted his knee, receiving a fresh pot of tea from his sister.
</p><p>	“Hey there,” he said, taking the cup by the tiefling’s feet and dumping out the cold water. “This will help you relax better. Specially brewed just for you.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk’s fingers were starting to scab with how many times he poked himself pulling the needle around. He looked up at Caduceus. “Do I not look relaxed?”
</p><p>	Not needing to stare at the twitching, tensed tiefling for longer than a second, the cleric responded, “No, not really.” He put the cup into Mollymauk’s hands, sliding the fabric out from under. He caught a glance of the red eye from between folds, and looked back to Mollymauk as he carefully brought the tea to his mouth and started sipping. “Perhaps, when you’re ready of course, it would be healthy for us all to have a talk.”
</p><p>	“Some direction would be nice,” Fjord added, pulling the meat off the stone. “Did we decide we were returning to Rosohna, or did we need to go anywhere within the Empire? I am confused.”
</p><p>	Veth looked up at the wizard, then to the rest of the group. “I think we talked about home a little while ago… whatever home means to each of us.”
	</p><p>The cicadas in the bushes took up the orchestra as Yasha paused her playing. “My home is with all of you,” she said, glancing over to Mollymauk with a smile. 
	</p><p>He smiled back, lips hovering over the hot tea that sent his mind into a light cloud. The conversation almost tuned out to his ears, just another layer in their surroundings. Returning to the Xhorhaus sounded safe and was more or less familiar now that they made him a room and settled in with the city. But Otis was out there - trying to bring about whatever that nine eyed creature was in the void, and possibly headed to Zadash to kill Cree - who in turn was often near the Gentleman; and he wouldn’t want to risk Jester’s father getting injured. The tiefling furrowed his brows, polishing off the rest of the scolding tea. He knew Vax’ildan could appear anywhere.
</p><p>	Placing the cup to his thigh, Mollymauk fluffed the fur along Frumpkin’s neck. “Aye, well, there’s not much we can do tonight,” he said, slowly meeting his friends' faces in the circle. He locked eyes with his own red irises, sitting behind the group between Caleb and Beauregard; his chin resting on a heavily adorned hand that disappeared into the mass of layers in that long embroidered coat; he tapped a pointed nail on the peacock tattoo along his face - listening to Mollymauk intently. The two tieflings blinked at each other. “A talk tomorrow would do <em>us </em> good.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A more soft cliffhanger for this chapter - somewhat of a reprieve after all that fighting in one day! Let Our Boy Rest. Even if Caduceus gave him essentially weed in a cup. It do be like that sometimes.<br/>Also I kept track of my dice rolling in that Vax fight. Mollymauk had two hit points left. He did a lot of damage to Vax though!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Once Is Not Once</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wow it has been a long hiatus and if you have been caught up with Critical Role's episodes,,, AHA well I suppose this fic series is slowly shifting into canon divergence rather than alternate timeline. I wrote half of this before last week's (Oct.15) show so I wouldn't be accidentally copying what happens - but after many panic moments, this fic and how I imagine the show will go are fairly two different stories, with maaaaaaybe a few similarities here and there. I'm starting to pull new characters in and completely making everything up about them - so Matt Mercer, if you make me wrong I stg. I do pull some canon moments into play - but nothing of a giant Spoiler that wasn't already a theory.</p>
<p>I really pushed through a writer's block with this chapter; there's a point halfway through where last night I had this big AHH moment and wrote a lot more than I intended to for such an expletive chapter with no big fights (for once. Mollymauk can rest, just this once.)</p>
<p>Thank you guys for your comments and condolences from last chapter. I've been doing better overall - a little busy with work, but emotionally better. </p>
<p>Anyway, enjoy this longer but narratively all over the place chapter. I'll see you at the end!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> His mind hadn't stopped spinning since last night - debating too many options in his head. What if Cree never went back to the Evening Nip when he unceremoniously ditched her with the rest of the crew? Perhaps it would be a good thing if Otis didn't find her there, and he would move on to a different motive. 
</p><p> Mollymauk nudged a stone with his foot as he paced the parameter of the grove. It was too early in the morning for the sun to peek through the tree branches, and fog settled around his ankles. Goosebumps rattled up his arms while he blew out the warm air in his chest. In an attempt to ignore the annoying thrumming the sutures gave him whenever he tilted his back - he thought about everything else. Lucien's past was a continuous haunting scene playing out in his memory. The stupid red eyes blinking at him along his body as he saw himself alone in the void with that Thing. The tiefling shook his head, spinning on his heel to walk in the opposite direction. 
</p><p> The peacock painting on his skirt unfurled from the pleating, disturbing the fog beneath it. And as if it blew a path towards the forest, Mollymauk caught the flick of a similarly designed coat disappearing behind the trees. 
</p><p> He swallowed, crossing his arms over himself. “You’re so tenacious to avoid me,” Mollymauk said, walking slowly over to the group of pines. 
</p><p> “‘Tenacious?’” a voice much like his replied back. “Your time with Mister Caleb is really proving itself.”
</p><p> Mollymauk put his hand on the tree, leaning around to see the other tiefling disappearing in the other direction. “Aye, I enjoy it,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to watch the embroidered coat duck into deeper fog. “Why won’t you talk to me?”
</p><p> The silhouette of the heavily decorated horns spun unhurried. “I don’t really know what to say to you.”
</p><p> “Lucien sure has things to say to me,” Mollymauk stated.
</p><p> “Aye, well, Lucien is a right bastard,” Molly retorted, his voice steady.
</p><p> “At least he’s there.”
</p><p> Molly peered from around a different tree. Mollymauk could make out the short, gentle curls of his dark hair around his face - a face more identical to his own. “I’ve been there too,” he mumbled. 
</p><p> “Mister Caleb could have died yesterday; Lucien was the only one offered help!”
</p><p> His past self’s shoulders rose up defensively. “That’s not true - I - I -”
</p><p> Mollymauk was in front of him now, the heels of his boots lifting him slightly above the other’s eyes. “Are you afraid of me?” he whispered. His brows softened, the aspect becoming more transparent as he watched Molly’s spirit take a half step back. “I don’t understand.”
</p><p> “You said it yourself,” Molly replied, finding his footing. “I put you in the ground. Why would you even want to speak to me? I never spared a thought for Lucien - he was an awful person; and I hacked it alone to be who I am. Now, why do you want to know about us? Why not just live your own life?”
</p><p> Mollymauk snatched Molly’s hand - something unexpected from both of them. He brought his hand to the scar on his chest, to the dagger wound in his abdomen, and the healing horns on his head. He watched Molly’s jaw clench. 
</p><p> “I never had to be alone,” Mollymauk said. “Every step in my life has been in the shadows of yours, of Lucien’s. This -” he added, as purple hyacinths bloomed around the horns with aid from a druidcraft cantrip. “This is the only thing that’s been mine. Now it’s hard to ignore the dreams from your lifetimes.”
</p><p> “Please don’t group me with <em> him.</em>”
</p><p> “The dreams from your life,” Mollymauk felt his eyes brimming, “have been so nice. Your memories with the carnival - with the Nein - they fill a void. You ask why I want to know you - despite you putting me in the ground; Mister Molly, I know what you did for Beau - for Mister Caleb and Veth - for your family. Bating yourself as a sacrifice for them? Dying for them?” Mollymauk set his jaw forward. “How could I bear any ill thoughts toward you when I would do the same?”
</p><p> Molly sighed deeply through his nose, retracting his hand from the blooms in his successor’s hair. A long moment passed as they looked each other up and down. The tiefling finally let out an exacerbated laugh and said, “Sorry. I must be jealous of you. An awful thing to be, really.”
</p><p> “I understand,” Mollymauk replied. “You want to be with <em>your</em> friends and I’m in <em>your</em> place, I get it.”
</p><p> Molly scratched his cheek, thinking. “I really couldn’t imagine any of them dying, you see, I, uh, I wasn’t thinking much about the consequences myself when I used that blood maledict. Lorenzo was going to reach Beau and I, um…” His hands fluttered about. “I’m sorry-”
</p><p> Mollymauk carefully embraced him. An odd feeling; the form felt different than a normal person, but Molly fit snug on his shoulder. The coat was tucked between the unintentionally inspired skirt’s panels as the morning breeze moved the fog away from the grove. The two stood silently in the other’s presence.
</p><p> “This is really cute, really, it is, but as much as I’m glad we’ve got some sort of bodily reunion going on as we discuss our funky little trauma, we still have pea-cocky’s Vax’ildan problem and my subordinates are going to be at each other’s throats soon over the abyssal city,” Lucien stepped in, tail flicking what remained of the fog within the deep grass to no avail.
</p><p> Both Mollymauk and Molly turned their heads to him as he decided the fog wasn’t going to move for him and hovering over it was the best bet - a quiet discovery that doing so made him taller than the other two brought great pleasure.
</p><p> “For fuck's sake,” Molly said, turning away to lean on the tree.
</p><p> Mollymauk glanced between them. Despite the same facial features, the two of them looked nothing alike. It was strange seeing them together this way. “We can’t quite predict when Vax’ildan will return,” he said, consciously covering the wound. “But Otis is going to Zadash, isn’t he?”
</p><p> Lucien crossed his legs, his bottom hovering over a tilted trunk of a tree that stretched to meet the light that was slowly lighting up the corners of budding leaves. “I don’t think Cree would return to that place after she lost us; she isn’t like that.” A leaf blew through his image. 
</p><p> “Do we really care about what happens to her?” Molly asked, picking up a pebble from the ground; he pegged it in the other’s direction - the stone bouncing off Lucien’s cheek. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” he whispered to Mollymauk as the cult leader stood up angrily. “Here kitty kitty!”
</p><p> Mollymauk took three steps back as the two ethereal forms tackled each other. If Cree didn’t go back to the Gentleman, where would she go? And would the troupe of thieves they worked with be with her? The tiefling sat amongst the grass, piecing how their journey should go. Getting the Nein to head in a random direction would take an awkward explanation - unless…
</p><p> “Hey, Lucien,” Mollymauk asked, glancing to the one pinned under the other’s thigh. “The red eyes of that, err, creature. That abyssal city you mentioned; what was your order’s goal with that? What does Otis want?”
</p><p> Gnawing away on Molly’s leg, Lucien shoved his hands up and elbowed his successor in the crotch. “Two very interesting questions,” he said with a small grin as Molly rolled off him. “To say immortality or some sort of knowledge from such a powerful being would be the end goal, however my ritual went quite awry as you can see. Unfortunately I woke up and decided to be some gaudy rainbow traveling with a freak show, but hey, we all do crazy things when we aren’t ourselves.” He dodged a swing from Molly’s boot. “As for Otis, funny fellow, I do believe he just desires my immortality as well, but with the end of the world on the side. I do miss him.” He picked a speck of dirt off of his black capelet. 
</p><p> “Where would Cree go?”
</p><p> “North, of course -” Lucien said, getting to his feet to kick the other tiefling while he was down. “Why else do you think we all work with cold-based blood magic?”
</p><p> “Gods, would you just shut up?” Molly asked, whipping his tail out to pull Lucien back to the dirt. “Your crazy cult is going to get everyone killed.”
</p><p> “Personally, I think it would be an entertaining watch. Just think about it - releasing a creature that the gods could hardly lock away?”
</p><p> Mollymauk laid back. Perhaps the fog would take him away from the ruckus. “Sehanine, you really gave me quite the task,” he said aloud. He felt the spirits split apart, appearing on either side of his face while he stared blankly towards the sky. “So this thing could even kill the gods, is what I’m taking away from this?” He asked, glancing at Lucien. 
</p><p> “In theory. I died, so I couldn’t do much else research after seeing the thing.”
</p><p> He sighed, then glanced at Molly. “Do you think I should even ask the other’s to-”
</p><p> “Aye, probably. I think we’d die alone without them. I get you’re nervous about endangering them, but I promise they would be more pissed that you didn’t ask.”
</p><p> The three lay in silence, two watching the one in charge like dogs would their owner. Mollymauk covered his face in his hands and groaned. He couldn’t have peace until he knew his friends would be safe from this body’s past and present issues. 
</p><p> “I suppose we’re going north then to stop Otis,” he decided, dragging his hands down his neck. 
</p><p> “We’re with you,” Molly replied.
</p><p> “Aye,” Lucien added, glancing at the third’s skirt. “But I did notice that you have two birds on your skirt - one being pea-cocky here, and the other is a phoenix, but um, where is my large painting? I don’t find this particularly fair.”
</p><p> “Oh please,” Molly hoffed. “You hardly have influence that screams ‘good’, why would they add anything to represent you-”
</p><p> “Oh my gods,” Mollymauk said, sitting up. 
</p><p> A stick cracking underfoot sent six red eyes in the direction of the grove. Walking nonchalantly, staff bopping along every other tree, was Beauregard. Her hair was down, but pushed off of her face by the breeze. And despite the cool temperature, she was dressed in her usual workout fashion. 
</p><p> “Hey,” she said, cocking an eyebrow. “Talking to yourself out here?”
</p><p> Mollymauk felt the empty space to his sides. He shook his head and breathed a laugh. “Something like that, aye.”
</p><p> For a moment, she gawked at him with a bemused look. 
</p><p> “What is it?” he asked, getting to his feet.
</p><p> “I dunno how your head flower thing works, but uh, you’re really blooming there. The red and the white kinda clash with your outfit, but hey, you’ve never had the best fashion sense,” she said with a playful shrug.
</p><p> The tiefling reached up around his curving horns to feel the soft petals of roses. “I don’t think this flower was capable of growing here, but stranger things have happened.”
</p><p> The monk snapped her fingers in quick thought. “I read something in a book once, uh, uh, uh, plant symbolism or something. Something dumb that humans do with roses especially. Uh, I think those colors together are something specific,” she said, her thinking leading to bouncing on her toes. “Fuck, I can’t fucking remember it. Remind me to check that later.”
</p><p> He walked up to her, tucking his arm around hers. She looked up, confused, but rolled with it. They looked back to the Blooming Grove as morning fires began in the druids camp. 
</p><p> “I think,” he said, pulling her back along the path she took. “I have a direction for us to go next.”

</p><p> </p>
<p> The eight of them piled into a two-horse wagon - giving quest lasting embraces to the Clay family as well as to the druids who had begun to pack up their belongings to return home. Ku’ra clutched onto Mollymauk, digging her fingers into the soft curls of his hair as she kissed his pinched cheeks. It seemed it didn’t take much persuading to ask the Mighty Nein about traveling up into blizzard territory, as Beauregard whipped out all her notes and research on the area - something she and the others had been collecting since their encounter with a similar vision of the ‘Eyes of Nine.’ Jester appeared out of nowhere with Caleb, carrying winter wear for the lot of them. Mollymauk hadn’t worn clothes like this before - the fur lining the top of a long asymmetrical coat tickled his nose, but he kept the top buttons open for the time being, enjoying the last gusts of spring wind before it became too brittle. They left the Blooming Grove, Caduceus out front with Fjord on the reins; they left the window into the covered wagon open as Beauregard monologued her Expositor notes with every annotation and scrap paper thoughts about the sentient metropolis floating throughout the void. Mollymauk dipped his chin into the fur of his hood, listening intently, his heart thumping hard. Between the spaces of his friends, he watched the incorporeal spirits of Lucien and Molly sitting between them, watching him back. 

</p><p> </p>
<p>“That isn’t a word.”
</p><p>“Of course it is. Why would I give you a word to spell that wasn’t real?”
</p><p>“You’re shitting me a bull, Mister Caleb, that isn’t a word; how would that even be used in a sentence?” 
</p><p>Caleb leaned over to Beau, giving the napping human a small nudge. “Give me a long word that means extraordinary.”
</p><p>Beau stifled awake, rubbing the cold off of her face. “Wha-? Oh, you mean supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?” 
</p><p>Mollymauk slapped his tail against the cart’s flooring. “Why are you <em>doing</em> this to me?”
</p><p>Beau cackled, catching up to their game. “What, you can’t spell it? It’s just the way it sounds.”
</p><p>“I can’t even remember how you pronounced it,” he replied, covering his mouth as he glared down the two of them. “Please give me a different word. Or I’ll never teach you another iota of Druidic.”
</p><p>Caleb accepted the threat, immediately giving him an easier word.
</p><p>“D-e-s-t-i-n-y.”
</p><p>“Ja,” he said, laughing at the flush in the tiefling’s cheeks. 
</p><p>A tiny squirm and angry squeak crawled its way out of Jester’s hood. The fervent weasel was practically rabid, twitching and biting at ethereal gnats in the air. Those awake in the bustling cart gawked at the pet, earnestly frowning as Jester picked the creature back up to shove into her hood once more.
</p><p>“Miss Jester,” Mollymauk said, bringing his legs in beneath it. “I think your weasel is plotting homicide.”
</p><p>“If not suicide,” Veth added on from her spot laying across Yasha’s leg. “You can hear him - ‘kill me!’ - See?”
</p><p>Jester shook her head, her hair fluffing around her cheeks. “No! Sprinkle is fine, he loves traveling with us!”
</p><p>“‘I want to die!’” Another faux voice for Sprinkle came through the wagon’s window. Fjord was peaking in, an arm bent over the wooden ledge. “Oh, hey guys, just checking in. It is fucking cold out here,” he said, blowing a puff of warm air out of his nose. “It looks like we’re coming across some town, so I think we’ll let the horses rest and get some food. Everyone doing alright?”
</p><p>“Quite cozy,” Yasha replied. She was contently laying, settled in her black and white furs, taking up much of the back of the cart.
</p><p>“My legs feel like they’re going to fall off with all the static I’m getting in my feet, so a break sounds super,” Beau said, throwing the captain a thumbs up. 
</p><p>	Everyone’s feet sank a few inches, stepping out of the wagon. The snow in the air didn’t reach impenetrable, but the consistency that it was falling created a few inches of annoying piles to sift through. Veth grumbled as it reached past her knees; a quick issue to solve as Yasha pulled her up. 
</p><p>	“The Frozen Depths really are frozen,” Jester noted, looking at the blue and silver mountains that were barely distinguishable from the sky and ground. “It’s so pretty.”
</p><p>	Beau kicked around the blackening snow on the road. “Yeah, sure,” she said, looking at the town around them and the few people that were trudging from shops to the one tavern - many unhappy faces, and more inhuman ones. Her eyes then drifted up to the scenery around the area, the spots that Jester was actually referring to. “Shit, uh, yeah, the mountains are cool.”
</p><p>	“Smooth,” Mollymauk whispered next to her, throwing her a sarcastically reassuring ‘O.K’ sign. 
</p><p>	“Shut up,” she whispered back.
</p><p>	Caduceus returned from bringing the horses to a covered stable, closing his coin purse. “Well, that’s been settled. Food and a drink sounds great, I think. Maybe we can ask the townsfolk in the tavern about Cree? Maybe she’s passed by this way.” He looked to the lavender tiefling. “And maybe this Otis fellow too. Just looking into Eiselcross and perhaps how to get to the islands from here.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk nodded. He tucked his tail under the folds in the asymmetrical coat as they pushed forward into the town, the wind growing colder between the cabins. He noted the elves and dwarves, their weaponry strapped tight to their sides, and the fairly traveled road leading out of the town towards the north. One wagon, pulled by heavy-set horses, was three miles down it, disappearing over a hill towards what must have been the sea. The colors were hard to make out of the ocean so far in the distance - mountains disguised themselves with shades just as dark as the icy waters. 
</p><p>	“That way is Palebank Village,” Caleb said, nodding towards a beat up wooden sign further into the town. “Likely our best bet if we do not want to travel further up inland.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk felt the ethereal tingle of the black cat spirit push through his legs; it stepped over the snow, tail upright and alert as it circled around him and trotted towards the tavern, disappearing within the wind blown snow. 
</p><p>	“Agreed,” the tiefling said, looking toward the wizard. “C’mon, let’s get some ale.”

</p><p> </p>
<p>The tavern was cramped with townsfolk escaping the weather. Puddles scattered about the entryway, mopped up by a passing gnomish man. Inside were two levels, the center open on top as the tables circled the sides. A large fire pit in the center kept the tavern dry and a bit ashy. The air was stale, forcing anyone who came in fresh to stop to make sure they could get a breath in. A few patrons spared a glance to the colorful group stepping inside, dusting the snow off their shoulders and hair. They returned to their drink and conversation - if they were having any at all - letting the Nein scoot around them as the group made their way to the bartender. A burly half-elf, the bartender was wiping down tin mugs as Fjord approached him, quick to strike up conversation about ways to get to Eiselcross. 
</p><p>Mollymauk’s eyes darted about the two story tavern; located between Jester and Yasha, he wasn’t the most prominent of the bunch, and most purveyors of the cabin floor kept to their own company. He set his gaze on the floor above them, many tables full of decloaked elves and dwarves, and the occasional gnome and human. Through the arching of the roof, it was impossible to make out what any of them were saying despite the open room. 
</p><p>Yasha hooked her finger around his, gently tugging the tiefling towards an open table as the Nein piled in. Fjord returned with six mugs of cold ale on hand, then was quick to return with a small cup of hot chocolate for Jester and tea - in which Caduceus took a whiff and was struck confused, but sipped at it nonetheless. 
</p><p>“So,” Fjord said, squishing in next to Beau, “bartender’s pretty iffy on giving up any information about passing customers, but I think I can persuade him to have a looser tongue for our Tabaxi friend. The elf? Gonna be harder to differentiate from the usual clientele.” He gave a small shrug, drinking the ale with a tired frown. 
</p><p>Beau half-stood from the table, raising a hand at the bartender, “Yo! Can we get some bread or something?” She sat back down, looking about the group. “What? I’m fucking hungry.”
</p><p>“Are we going to stay here for the night?” Jester asked. “How fast would it take for us to get to those islands?”
</p><p>“That’s another couple days, I assume,” Veth replied. “If Caleb brings up the tower tonight, we can sleep comfortably at least before we go, right?”
</p><p>Mollymauk hummed into his mug. “Tower?”
</p><p>“Ah,” Caleb caught a stray drop of the alcohol on his lip. “Ja, it’s something new that I’ve been working on. The others have only seen it once; before we found you. I have been out of the energy it takes to do the spell lately, but I could do it tonight if that is what our plan is?”
</p><p>“Traveling in the snow late at night doesn’t sound very safe,” Yasha added. “We may be bundled up, but not that well.”
</p><p>“Tomorrow morning then,” Caduceus finalized, nodding to Fjord. “We can trade the horses for passage to Eisselcross.”
</p><p>The bartender slapped down two baskets of bread loaves, staring coldly at Beau. She stared at him back, stuffing a loaf into her mouth. Small bowls of soup soon followed for the group - brothy, with a few pieces of vegetables and spices. Fjord left the table again with the Empire duo at his hips, in their attempt to get information from the one half-elf whose mustache mirrored the grimace he had. 
</p><p>Mollymauk pushed up his helm on his forehead, still working on the soup. With his horns growing back, areas of the helmet were tight in some places and looser in others. Jester put a warm hand on top of his, nodding up to his horns.
</p><p>“They’re looking very nice!” she said in Infernal to not interrupt Caduceus and Yasha’s conversation. “Are you doing okay, Molly?”
</p><p>He turned his hand over for her blue fingers to rest on his open palm instead of atop the snake tattoo. “A little nervous, I suppose,” he whispered. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
</p><p>“That applies to you too,” she said, gently prodding her finger into his palm. “Most of my spells are for ass kicking, so please don’t go throwing yourself in front of us.”
</p><p>“No promises,” he replied, nibbling on his lip.
</p><p>Something in the corner of his vision caught his attention; above on the second floor, amidst the other patrons, sat a cloaked figure he did not notice before; and the allure of their presence only grew by the second. Mollymauk casually turned his head, glancing up at the figure who sat alone at their table, a single glass in hand. Long white hair braided over their shoulder as the person brought their drink to their lips - eyes cast down directly at the tiefling.
</p><p>Mollymauk heard a cat meow by the stairs curving up to the second level. 
</p><p>“Molly?” Jester said, tapping his palm. She followed his gaze and doubled back to him. “Blink twice if that’s a person we have to kill for you.”
</p><p>Mollymauk looked back at the blue tiefling, eyes wide. “No, Jester, no, I,” he stumbled, “I’m trying to piece it together.” He eyed the black cat on the stairs. “I think I’ve been recognized.” He stood up slowly, nodding his okay to the others at the table. Jester shuffled out of the booth with him. 
</p><p>“I’m coming with you.”
</p><p>“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
</p><p>“I don’t care; I’m not letting you talk to this person alone. We’re here for you, Molly, let us help you out,” Jester said, not letting his hand go. “I can stay behind you if you prefer.”
</p><p>Lucien was already prodding up the stairs with the peacock nowhere in sight. Clearly a one-sided memory, Mollymauk thought, taking Jester up the stairs with him. </p><p>The stairwell was narrow; the tieflings could smack either railing with a casual swipe of their tails; and the steps were high. Built quite unfairly for those of a smaller stature. It was slightly cooler on the second level, but just as smoky as below as the fire’s remains snuck out the hole in the ceiling. The two walked around the balcony, Mollymauk keeping a steady eye on the cloaked figure as they rounded the corner. One more turn around a pillar, and suddenly it was gone - clear from the table with the chair pushed in. The tiefling’s brow twitched nervously, he looked over to the opposing stairwell from the one they came up from. He approached it, peering down the stairs.
</p><p>A dark hand grabbed his waist and pulled him aside to the small corner in the stairwell’s entrance; Jester’s hold of him tore away out of sheer surprise. A drow woman, her hood now down to show off her intricately braided and beaded white hair,  grey eyes, and a blindingly white smile, pulled Mollymauk tightly to her - her face buried into his chest. 
</p><p>“Lucien,” she said, pulling away to cup his face.
</p><p>Mollymauk heard Jester move towards him - he put out a hand to pause her, watching the woman in front of him. He was pulled down to the dark elf’s height, engulfed by a kiss - deep and forelonging - and another quick peck on his cheek as she pulled back again. The cat was loudly purring in its own little plane, rubbing its spiritual body in a figure eight through the woman’s legs. Mollymauk felt the blood run to his face as his lips pulsed from her nibble. 
</p><p>“Lucien, it’s been so long - I know Cree mentioned you were back, but she seemed to be in such a hurry. Not sure what you did to piss her off, sweetheart, but I’m sure that will be fixed in no time.” She kept her hands up on his face, feeling around his jaw and neck at all the visible scars that raised the skin. “It’s been so long,” she said again, dragging her nails gently down the leather of his tunic. 
</p><p>Upon a quick inspection, the drow, too, had scars similar to his own along her hands and upper neck - her belts kept the fur hides close to her body, silver daggers blending into the grey fur. 
</p><p>“Look at your hair!” she said after an awkward pause. “So long since we last saw you… And your horns? Dear, how did that happen-?”
</p><p>“It’s been, uh, an eventful three years,” Mollymauk was finally able to spit out. He glanced at Jester - whose face registered as wary as she eavesdropped from around the corner. “What, uh, what are you doing here?”
</p><p>The woman relaxed her hands on the tiefling’s hips. “Got hired out of Nogvurot by Cree actually. Was a surprise, but pleasant. Didn’t realize we were getting the band back together until I saw her with Zoran, that sonofabitch, he’s doing quite well. They headed up to Aeor, I assume waiting for <em>you</em>. I was told to stay and wait for our petite Otis, but hey, I found the leader instead. Lucky me,” she said, giving his thighs a light squeeze. “Cree doesn’t trust Otis with holding a torch, let alone plans for the city, ever since I shared some mutagen solutions with him a few months back. Have you seen him? He’s been a little off his rocker ever since we split apart like you asked us too. Not that he’s ever been on the rocker. Mais, we’ve been writing to one another regardless.”
</p><p>“Does Cree know that Otis is out to kill her?” Mollymauk asked, sliding his hands over the woman’s to remove them from his hips. The cat hissed at the motion, sitting under her long cloak.
</p><p>“Out to kill her?” she repeated, “I didn’t know he would go that far. Why?”
</p><p>“I suppose he thinks Cree lied about Lu - about me dying and, uh, coming back. Thinks she’s a traitor to, um, our cause.”
</p><p>She pressed her lips together, squinting at him in thought. “Unusual,” she said, “we were all with you when you did the ritual. How doesn’t he remember? Oh! Speaking of - you saw it right? The city?”
</p><p>How could he forget? “Aye,” he said, “aye I saw it. It’s brilliant; terrifying.”
</p><p>She smiled again - quite a pleasant smile, genuine, kind. Mollymauk felt part of him drawn in, and the other part reel away. 
</p><p>“And Otis is fucking mad.”
</p><p>“I’ll have to warn Cree, then,” she said. She blinked at him, her white eyelashes unusually long. “Shame, I wish I could spend the night with you…”
</p><p>Mollymauk watched Lucien’s astral form appear in the space behind her. His grin was unmistakably more anarachic as his hand touched Mollymauk’s - who still held hers away from his body. 
</p><p>“We can spend five minutes right now,” Lucien said, and to the tiefling’s terrifying realization, was spoken out of his own mouth. 
</p><p>He heard Jester sputter as the drow woman pushed herself in closer. The blue tiefling shoving her arm in between them as she continued to sputter. The indigo in her iris was bright as her eyes were wide in bafflement, looking at him before she nudged between the two of them. “Excuse me, <em>hello</em>, I’m Jester, nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
</p><p>The drow looked at her, then up to Mollymauk - who had shifted to a shade of violet as he glared passed her - and back to the small tiefling who was more or less her own height. “You know this femme?” 
</p><p>“Yes, he knows me,” Jester replied, her smile forthcoming.
</p><p>She looked the blue tiefling up and down, from the high end winter clothing to the expensive silver hanging on her horns. The woman chuckled. “The name is Tyffial Wase; I’m Lucien’s <em>preferred</em> colleague.”
</p><p>Mollymauk opened his mouth, then promptly shut it, watching the two women hardly over five-feet tall stare each other down. He watched the form of Molly appear next to Lucien, all but strangling him back into the ethereal plane. The strange feeling he had quickly fading. “Tyffial, yes, uh, yes, this is Jester - she’s a member of the group I’m currently working with. A cleric.”
</p><p>“And a friend,” Jester added, pushing her arms around Mollymauk’s body. 
</p><p>Tyffial pressed her finger to her philtrum. “Of course, yes, a friend. Lucien always has good taste,” she said, glancing up to the lavender tiefling.
</p><p>“Not like that,” he said quietly. 
</p><p>“No wonder Cree was jealous, Lucien, she’s very cute,” Tyffial replied, seemingly unperturbed by the thought she had. She checked her supply on herself with a quick count, then pulled up the hood of the cloak. “Well, sweetheart, I suppose our five minutes will have to come later if I’m to beat the blizzard. I’ll give Cree the heads up about Otis, for you. Meet you in Aeor, dear?” she asked, reaching over Jester on her toes to give Mollymauk another deep kiss.
</p><p>“Excuse me?” Jester shouted, pushing them apart.
</p><p>Tyffial laughed. “Very cute, dear, have fun,” she said, disappearing with a quick step around them and a quicker pinch to Mollymauk’s ass.
</p><p>The tieflings stood there in the stairwell hall, the sounds of distant conversations around them - both looking at each other with different levels of confusion and horror. Jester glanced around bewildered.
</p><p>“Molly, she basically ate your face!” she said, pointing to the bruising on Mollymauk’s bottom lip. “What - was she your girlfriend in your past life?”
</p><p>“I have that impression,” he replied, rubbing the bruise that was going to form on his left asscheek. “Why is every Tomb Taker so -”
</p><p>“Absolutely feral?”
</p><p>“Well, I was going to say chaotic, but that is a word.”
</p><p>“I don’t know, Molly, I mean she seemed, y’know, not crazy, but I didn’t like how she touched you. She mentioned mutagens too? What are those?”
</p><p>Mollymauk moved aside to let a leaving pair of elves down the stairs. “Bloodhunter stuff, I think. It’s not like my order, though. She has different abilities than I do with blood magic. Mister Caleb may know the rest, I’m sure.”
</p><p>“And Aeor?” Jester continued, “That’s the ruins we’re going to. So we’re essentially meeting your old cult there; but you don’t remember exactly what they’re looking for, do you?”
</p><p>“No,” he said. “I don’t. Not really. Something related to that abyssal city, maybe.”
</p><p><em>Empty.</em>
</p><p>Mollymauk leaned against the wall, pressing his open palm to his forehead. Getting closer to the ruins gave a kick to his heart-rate; his head rushing with blood. Jester held his elbows carefully, looking between his eyes with worry. 
</p><p>“Are you with me, Molly?”
</p><p>“Aye, I’m with you.”
</p><p>“I’m going to walk us back to the group, okay? I’ll do the talking so you don’t have to.”
</p><p>“Aye, okay,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. A small sprig of oleander sprouted from behind his helm. 

</p><p> </p>
<p>They had found a small inn, so small that the rooms available were scarce, but Caleb insisted that one room was fine enough for the eight of them - and the innkeeper was not going to argue with that. The room itself had two beds, a small table, and a short wardrobe. Mollymauk furrowed his brow looking at the space, picturing where everyone would go while the others simply watched Caleb set up his spell. 
</p><p>Oh, how the tiefling was not expecting the portal.
</p><p>Nor the contents inside of it.
</p><p>There were fine details down to the smallest objects; the stained glass of the schools of magic were entrancing, the dark stone contrasting the brass railings - Mollymauk continued to turn in place, never seeing anything like it. The rest of the Nein were still enjoying the room as they stepped into the center and looked his way patiently.
</p><p>“Mollymauk,” Caleb said, holding out his hand. The tiefling wandered over to the group. A quick glance to the tiefling’s bruised lip, and the wizard carefully took his hand. “Just think ‘up’ and I can show you your room, okay?”
</p><p>Beau was already floating upwards. “You made him a room already?”
</p><p>“There’s <em>already</em> been a room for him,” Caleb replied, holding back a chuckle at Mollymauk’s face as they rose in the air to the next floor.
</p><p>Mollymauk looked up at him. “You said you made this before me, though?”
</p><p>“Ja, well,” Caleb shrugged and went quiet as they passed the second floor and went up to the third floor where a few of the Nein debated getting off, but the thought of looking into Mollymauk’s room interested them more. 
</p><p>The tiefling peered into the salon, seeing the minimum of a large library - very befitting of Caleb - and the maze that the floor had to offer. He heard the crackling of a fireplace as any thought of the cold outside the tower disappeared. He saw the scurrying of large amber cats with trays gliding up and down the slides along the walls as they floated passed the fourth level, and stopped on the fifth - Caleb leading Mollymauk to step out of the circle to a door with a carving of the moon etched into the wood. Six more stepped out of the circle - pushing them closer to the side of the doughnut. Despite the lack of room, Mollymauk carefully traced the moon symbol with his finger before he hesitantly opened the door.
</p><p>The first chamber was cozy, with the fireplace snapping - Caleb pointing out the red rope dynamics - there were intricate rugs on the ground - almost tapestry like that matched ones hanging low from the ceiling. The chairs near a low table were made for the obnoxious way he sat - the table rounded a large part of the room and atop it were a pile of books and a neatly presented calligraphy set next to piles of journals and ink. 
</p><p>“For our lessons,” Caleb narrated, peeking at Mollymauk to gauge a reaction. 
</p><p>The tiefling looked through the desk, and to the stained glass window of a phoenix - the likeness almost exact from the one he had painted on his druid skirt. There was a place to set the horned helmet by the door, a simplistic bust of his features. Mollymauk laughed, one incredulous burst of disbelief, as he slid the helm off his head and onto the one in front of him. Turning to Caleb, he shook his head. “This is for me?”
</p><p>Fjord poked at the door to the right. “Just wait, there’s more!”
</p><p>Caleb shushed him, leading Mollymauk along to the second chamber, the smaller one. The door opened to the sound of crickets, a phantom night breeze, comfortable and inviting, tousled the groups hair as they walked inside onto tall grass and soft dirt. The walls were painted around them like a continuous grove, the trees appearing to blow in the same breeze as fireflies popped up and disappeared in the enchantment. There was a small pool of water to the side, surrounded by simple stones and flowers, cattails growing closeby. The reflection in the water led Mollymauk to look upwards, to the seemingly endless night sky - clear as it was deep in the forest. Far more detailed than the ceiling in the Xhorhaus, the stars glittered and moved, the moon casting the light silver gleam in the room. Mollymauk was silent - he could hear the distant singing of old druidic prayers during the Moonweaver celebrations as her ribbons - the aurora borealis - shot across the ceiling - lighting the dim room in pinks, greens, and purples. This room was the first home he had known in this life. 
</p><p>Tears pooled up in his eyes when he looked at Caleb looking at him while the other’s admired the sky. He shook his head again, <em>thank you</em>, he mouthed. 
</p><p>Hidden amongst the illusion, there was yet another door, this one leading to a final chamber - the bedroom. There was a brass tub to the side, steam rising from the top - fluffy towels around it with incense burning. The bed was low - easy to climb into. Mollymauk felt the silk blankets that layered the feathered bed; a mountain of pillows in all shapes and sizes curving with the roundness of the frame - and a single sheer white curtain could be pulled around it from the ceiling. The stained glass windows of the bedroom were of the Nein, embracing the lavender tiefling in a golden tiny hut. Mollymauk touched that too.
</p><p>There was a book on a small side table; big enough that he had to hold it with two hands. And on the cover was a golden peacock feather. Mollymauk slowly lifted the cover to the first page; he covered his mouth. It was a memory book - moments from Caleb’s point of view of moments where their Molly was with them. The images moved and spoke - perfectly entailed because Mollymauk remembered parts of them. The book’s Molly laughed and looked at him, holding out a pamphlet for the Fletching and Moondrop carnival. The tiefling closed the book.

</p><p> </p>
<p>They ate better food together, being served by the amber cats. A mix of distinct talking through of their tasks in the morning and quiet munching; it wasn’t long before they retired to their unique bedrooms for the night. Mollymauk stood in the library in front of that large main fireplace, silently holding himself as he studied the immense stained glass of the undoubting design of Molly’s coat.
</p><p>“You are so loved,” he whispered, knowing the peacock could hear him. He pinched the extra linen fabric of his sleep shirt’s sleeves between his fingers and rubbed them anxiously. Truly he was monstrous for dragging Molly’s friends into the fire with him; they didn’t deserve this; he didn’t deserve them.
</p><p>A book was set down in a small nook behind him. 
</p><p>“Mollymauk?” Caleb walked up to him. He was still fully dressed in his tunic and pants, albeit missing his boots and book holsters. “I thought you would have gone to bed. Is the bedroom not to your liking? I can change it -”
</p><p>“Oh no, it’s beautiful, Mister Caleb, it’s beyond what I could ever ask for,” Mollymauk reassured.
</p><p>“Gut, gut,” he mumbled, tying his hair back up from its fallen ponytail. The two silently looked at one another.
</p><p>“You really made all that for me, huh?” the tiefling asked, glancing at the stained glass. “I mean, this is for your memory, I understand, but the rooms,” Mollymauk paused. “You made that for current-me - me since I came back…”
</p><p>Caleb eyed Mollymauk’s posture, the nervous but bonafide twitch of his lip and how his tail wrapped tightly around one leg, and yet was taken aback by the stream of tears that dripped down Mollymauk’s face. 
</p><p>“And you’ve always called me Mollymauk, haven’t you, Mister Caleb?” he said - more to himself, pressing his sleeves to his eyes. “Feumaidh mi stad. All this crying, I feel like a child.”
</p><p>The human looked at the stained glass window, then down to the tiefling - appearing so small without his boots. “Mollymauk,” he whispered, and with a heavy sigh said, “I know, Mollymauk. I know.” 
</p><p>“You… know?”
</p><p>Caleb nodded. “For a couple days now, at least. You act very differently than he did. Your mannerisms are individualistic. I know. The rooms were made for <em>you.</em>”
</p><p>Mollymauk rocked from leg to leg. “And you don’t care that I’m just… this - <em>this?</em>”
</p><p>“Einmal ist keinmal,” Caleb replied, looking from his face to the ground.
</p><p>“I don’t understand.”
</p><p>“It’s not easy to translate, erm,” the wizard snapped a flame to his finger - on and off - on and off. “I was once called Bren. He is me and I was him, but, in some ways we are completely different people; and in others we are the same. Despite what Bren - what I have done - even the Mighty Nein treat him like another person, and me as just: Caleb. You are Mollymauk - and you are part of the Mighty Nein.” His voice lowered as he closed his eyes. “If you are reading this, you are alive again,” he recounted. 
</p><p>Mollymauk’s hand drifted to the spot he would keep that letter on him fully dressed, tucked right in front of his heart. 
</p><p>“Mollymauk, with everything that is happening between your past lives, we’re going to help you through it. Jester walked us through what happened at the tavern this evening. The seven of us? We will annihilate anyone who tries to hurt you.”
</p><p>The tiefling had to laugh through the uncontrollable tears. The fire’s light flickered around the contours of their faces. “Aye, I know.”
</p><p>He stepped closer to the man, gently laying his arms over the wizard’s shoulders as he rested his chin on the tweed of the tunic. He felt Caleb’s heart on his chest as the human returned the hug. The freshly shaven face pressed against Mollymauk’s unbraided hair. Caleb furrowed his brow, laying out the players in Mollymauk’s life situation; the opponents outnumbered allies, but it was no matter. He would eviscerate them all. 
</p><p>“Mister Caleb,” Mollymauk whispered. He could smell the musk on the man’s neck. “Why were you awake? Where’s your bedroom?”
</p><p>“I was reading,” Caleb replied quickly. The flowers around the front of Mollymauk’s horns smelled like vanilla spice. “I was going to go to bed right after.”
</p><p>“I don’t believe you,” Mollymauk said, steadily pulling away to look him in the face. From the tired, dark circles and stress lines in the forehead, to the painful firmness in the man’s back that he could feel through the embrace, the tiefling looked down at Caleb’s fists. He spared a glance at Molly's window as he weaved his fingers through the gaps in the wizard’s coarse hands. “How ‘bout you sleep in my room, aye? Make sure you actually get some rest before our trip tomorrow.”
</p><p>Caleb blinked. He stuttered after a quiet moment, “nein, it’s fine, I have a room to sleep on, erm, in-”
</p><p>“Caleb,” Mollymauk said, his face had calmed. “I don’t want to be alone tonight either.” He softly tugged him along out of the library. Looking back, past the reddening face of the Zemnian man, Mollymauk called to the wizard’s familiar - who was sitting comfortably in the same nook where the book on deities was abandoned. Frumpkin leapt down, promptly prancing over to play with the tiefling’s tail as they floated up to the fifth floor, the peacock spirit not far behind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>When I tell you I was sweatin' trying not to make Widomauk just go at it by the fireplace. When Caleb built his tower and was describing the rooms, with that one Guest chamber, I was like OOO. And last night imagined up how I thought he would make Mollymauk's room his own without pulling too much from Molly's past. Cuz that wizard knows he's his own individual and we love that.</p>
<p>And ah yeah! Tyffial! I debated which member of the Tomb Takers would be in that town. It almost wasn't her - but she's a rogue/bloodhunter and I think that would be better for her spying around. I also looked into her Order of the Mutant and it's pretty sick. I picked a drow for her race since she came from a city where a Luxon Beacon fight happened, and I thought, yeah Lucien would probably be all on that. <br/>I adore writing Lucien, he's a little bastard. Molly is constantly squaring up with him in the ethereal plane while Sehanine watches. </p>
<p>The flower language in this fic is real by the way - I do my research. </p>
<p>Next time, we're headed north to Eisselcross - completely glossing over what the Nein are currently facing because this is a Mollymauk story, but yo Fjord, I wish you the best.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Glass House</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was editing so much I almost forgot my chapter notes.<br/>Why hello there, it's been a while!</p><p>If you think, "hey this chapter is chock full of time jumping" then yeah you're kinda right. I had a crisis in the shower about how to fit my empty thoughts and all the make up on the spot plans into the rest of the four chapters and so, I needed to skip a lot of what the m9 are actually doing in game... since this is now canon divergence, I just said "hey, I'm gonna headcanon a bunch of things real quick.</p><p>I'll see you at the bottom!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Despite the intense cold of the storm they slowly pushed through, Mollymauk’s skin was on fire. 

</p><p> </p><p>Throughout their journey on a ship over the waters of the north - throughout the incredible peril and near death instances, as well as other previously dead visitors to his friends and sea monsters turned acquaintances - the tiefling’s skin prickled. It started as if it was a small pinch to his hand, to his neck, his back, scattered around his body. It was something he could ignore, at least. Snuggling deeper into the sleeping pile of the Mighty Nein, Mollymauk had a harder time getting any rest.
</p><p>He had gotten up one night. Stripping off his winter coat and undershirts, his breath held up in his throat. The red eye of his snake tattoo glowed in the shadows of the dimly lit deck. The tiefling stepped lightly over to the pile of the team’s weapons - pulling his sword out, aiming the reflective surface to his face. Another glow on his neck amidst the feathers, and another lighting up the hair on his nape. All of them - down his body and more along his arm he had never even taken a notice of before, hidden amongst the tattoo flowers and space - flared crimson along his lavender skin; the quick to appear goosebumps were hardly noted.
</p><p>When he heard Fjord stir - on instinct he dropped his scimitar, and the rune marks of the Moonweaver overtook his frame - leaving the half-orc to look up at the empty space around them. Mollymauk had stood still, holding in his breath until Fjord turned and went back to sleep. The invisible tiefling grabbed his clothing without thought, tightening the fur around his face as the markings dropped and he crawled back into the pile, digging himself into the space between Yasha and Caleb. 

</p><p> </p><p>The sensation only increased the more north they walked. And how long it seemed they walked. To use any powerful magic to teleport was not recommended so close to a city of the old arcane. Any conversation outside of resting in the tower was minimal when storms blew in. The Nein crowded together to barrel onward, shields up to block the precarious chunks of hail that barraged them. In the small breaks of the storm, one could see the towering mountains on either side, disappearing into the white sky that only blended into just as white ground. Mollymauk was in the middle of the group, if not pushed slightly into Caduceus’ frame - the firbolg grunting uncomfortably as he kept his shield up high. The wind was loud - a whistle in his ears. The tiefling’s eyelashes were covered in snow, sticking together with every blink. For a moment, he wished that Cree had stayed in Zadash - an easier location to access; but any fight breaking out there with the Tomb Takers would indefinitely cause destruction not worth the payoff. Picturing Maylene amongst the casualties with her family… 
</p><p>Mollymauk shook his head.
</p><p>“We should be close to one of the excavation sites,” Fjord called over the wind.
</p><p>“You’ve said that hours ago!” Veth responded somewhere within the inner pile. 
</p><p>Beau huffed, grabbing at the map that the half-orc was trying to hold up at the front of the group. Hidden behind Yasha, she crumpled the paper open, wiping snot on her cloak sleeve. “Where the fuck are we?”
</p><p>“It’s almost like we should have had a guide or something,” Caleb said, looking off into the snowy wastes. “There’s a pile of rocks over there - perhaps a break would help us recenter our path?” He pointed to several dark, jagged forms to their right - the snow pushing up and around the stones. 
</p><p>The group high-tailed it to the shelter, collapsing on the dusted dirt under the largest rock. Around them, the storm was a wall. Mollymauk, leaning against the stone, pulled his collar out to get the chilled air down his chest. He was sweating; but the rest of him never felt colder in his life. Caduceus’ hand appeared on his forehead - the fur wasn’t as warm as he wished, but he would leech off of anyone at this point. The hand moved to his cheek. 
</p><p>“Let’s get a fire going,” Caduceus said to the group. His brows were furrowed.
</p><p>“We can cook up some rations if we’re going to stay here for a little while,” Jester said. She dug through her pouches for the salted meat they had acquired along the way. 
</p><p>“No tower?” Yasha asked while Caleb ignited some scrap fabric.
</p><p>“Too early,” he replied, sitting his ass down in the damp ground. “Best if we just wait til this blizzard ends or stops long enough to get another few miles under our belt.”
</p><p>“Another few miles?” Veth repeated. “Fjord!”
</p><p>Fjord scoffed, pointing to Beau. “She took the map, look at her!”
</p><p>The monk flapped the map down. “Excuse you, I’m making sure we aren’t getting lost.”
</p><p>“Then where are we exactly?”
</p><p>“I’d know as soon as I could see the sky!”
</p><p>“The sky doesn’t exist right now, so what are we going to do?”
</p><p>Caleb leaned into the conversation, “it’s almost like I said it’s best to just wait until the blizzard ends.”
</p><p>“Hush Caleb, I am going to win this,” Veth said, placing a gloved hand over his mouth. 
</p><p>Fjord crouched against the rock, running his hands through his beard. “It’ll probably be a few hours before we see any signs of this clearing up.”
</p><p>Mollymauk glanced between them all - the boys especially - all their beards growing in over the weeks. He brought a finger to his chin. Smooth. He never had to bring a blade to his face; he could only imagine the mess if he ended up nicking his skin. 
</p><p><em>“Know… Lucien…” </em>
</p><p>The bloodhunter flicked his tail at the voice that felt so close to his ears. He quickly looked out at the wall of snow, then back to his friends. Caduceus turned back to him.
</p><p>“Are you feeling okay?”
</p><p>“Did you hear that?” Mollymauk asked, trying to see if maybe the two spirits were around despite the voice not matching up.
</p><p>Caduceus knelt quietly, listening. His ears flicked only to the wind and the small conversation between the others. “I don’t think I’m hearing what you are. Perhaps something through the ethereal plane?”
</p><p>“I don’t usually…” Mollymauk felt the burning again; he pulled his legs up to himself, breathing out slowly through his mouth. “I think I’m going to nap.”
</p><p>The cleric frowned. “Okay,” he said, “if you need anything.”
</p><p>“I know.”
</p><p>“Seriously - anything.”
</p><p>“Thanks, Mister Clay.”
</p><p>His leaning slipped to the left as his shoulder hit the dirt with a soft thud. He turned; facing the wall kept his breath bouncing back at him and the cold to his backside. The Mighty Nein’s chatter turned into whispers as an hour passed - two hours - three. Others began to nap in shifts, checking on the visibility around them on occasion. Mollymauk woke up in intervals, hearing voices that didn’t belong in his group. Just dreams, he thought. They weren’t as prominent as the voice before. 
</p><p>But they were full of fear; anguish and terrorized cries that brought tears to his eyes. A city crumbling underneath them; destruction.
</p><p>Mollymauk sat up. He faced the rock as he rubbed his face. The shadow cast by the fire was darker now - the light from the sun behind the clouds was dropping into the horizon, night not far behind. He hadn’t seen the moon in days.
</p><p>His knees cracked as he stood. A handful of his friends were half asleep in their bundle of blankets. Caleb kept the fire going in the silence - not enjoying the cold. The human glanced up at him, watching as the tiefling walked along the snow wall that slowly was calming. They didn’t say anything to each other. Mollymauk simply paced.
</p><p> <em>“Can you help me?” </em>
</p><p>Mollymauk fixed his attention on the figure standing a handful of yards away in the snow. A smaller person - not quite a teenager, but a person nevertheless, dressed in unusual attire - torn and bloodied - and an offshade of grey. It stared back at him. Mollymauk couldn’t take his eyes off the thing.
</p><p><em>“Others may need help too,” </em> it said - its voice like a distance echo. <em> “I can bring you to them. Please!” </em>
</p><p>“Mollymauk?” He heard Caleb behind him.
</p><p>He followed the person with his eyes as it ran out of his line of sight, leaving no footsteps in its wake; and then he followed on foot.
</p><p>“Mollymauk!” Caleb shouted, though the tiefling could hardly hear him as he heaved himself into the dying blizzard. The snow was thicker, but there was less of it - he scanned for the mysterious person, catching glimpses of it ahead of him. His head was empty trying to pursue it. Hyperfixated on the way the mountains could be seen growing and falling - Mollymauk only had a second to realize he was running, and now, he was falling.
</p><p>It was a messy tumble down the snowy terrain. His hands covered his face as he rolled, finally snapping into enough reality that he quickly sent himself into Wild Shape - a brief moment as a rabbit stopped the momentum as he plopped into the deep snow, only rolling another foot or two. 
</p><p>His tall rabbit ears heard the calling of his friends grow louder. He shifted back, digging his hands into the rubble below the snow. Stupid, he cursed himself. 
</p><p>“Down here!” he shouted back. “Careful, it’s steep!”
</p><p>He first saw Veth’s face appear over the edge of the slope. “Where are you going without us?” she asked, carefully sliding down the scattered snow. She stopped at the edge, just a few feet from where the thick heels of Mollymauk’s boots lay, and peeked down the drop.
</p><p>The others appeared, one after the other, worry stained their faces. Mollymauk didn’t move. Embarrassed, cold, and confused, he just let his face bury itself in the snow. Yasha was quickly there to lift him out of it and into her coat.
</p><p>“You just left?” the aasimar said, hurt in her voice.
</p><p>“Sorry, I -”
</p><p>Veth raised a finger. “Hey guys…”
</p><p>Sliding haphazardly down the same path, Caleb and Beau approached them - the tiefling’s scimitar in Beau’s hand.
</p><p>“You left without your weapon?” she said, annoyed, but concerned.
</p><p>“What did you see, Mollymauk?” Caleb asked.
</p><p>“Guys…”
</p><p>“I don’t know what I saw,” Mollymauk replied. “I don’t know if it was real.” He shook his head. “I just heard it calling to me, and, I - I don’t know.” 
</p><p>His skin was searing.
</p><p>Veth called out louder. “Guys!”
</p><p>“What is it, Veth?” Fjord said, making his way down. He raised a brow as the rogue pointed to the bottom of the chasm. Balancing himself out, he too peaked over the edge. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
</p><p>The Nein looked at him.
</p><p>“Molly found an excavation site.”

</p><p> </p><p>Getting down the cliffside began as a tasking challenge, well up until the point where Caleb and Jester simply decided to polymorph into giant eagle’s to gently carry the crew down. Mollymauk was stuck in his head, convinced he hadn’t imagined a young one who would be able to lead him away from his friends so easily. Inside the chasm, the space opened up to a large cave - the ruins of the structure had collapsed so that the snow easily covered the top and simply layered up and froze over. Fallen pillars and worn out stairways dripped in crystal and ice. 
</p><p>“Looks like people have already been here,” Yasha said, pointing to the collective footprints heading towards an entrance of the site. “No way to tell how long they’ve been here though.”
</p><p>“Or if they’re still here,” Beau added, crossing her arms. 
</p><p>The wind did not blow down in this deeper hole. While it was nice to avoid the whipping sensation of the freezing air, the temperature around them was just as uncomfortable. 
</p><p>Mollymauk eyed the crumbled section of the city; the voices he could hear - a muffled cry, frantic calling, screaming and ringing growing louder - he lifted his hands over his ears - that inhuman roar - he shut his eyes. And it stopped. There was silence; not even the crunching of snow from the Nein; as if he was in a void - still, numb, empty. 
</p><p>He opened his eyes. Lucien stood next to him, facing him; he could feel the red eyes boring into the side of his face. Mollymauk swallowed, taking in a breath of cold air as he searched the scene in front of him for his friends. They were just a few steps away. Nothing had changed. His skin had stopped burning - in fact, he couldn’t quite feel anything at all. Without sparing his predecessor a glance, he trotted up towards Yasha, pulling her arm around him as he sank into the fur of her coat.
She looked down at the mop of wavy, snow-covered purple hair. Leaning down, she tucked her nose in between the curve of his horns, planting a soft kiss at the top of his head. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
</p><p>“No,” he replied. “I don’t think I am today.”
</p><p>The aasimar held him to her body, picking up her head to look towards the rest of the party as they picked around the area and investigated the footprints. “Hey guys!” she called out. “Maybe we wait for tomorrow before we decide if we want to go in? If people may be here, it might, I dunno, be better to be properly rested?”
</p><p> Mollymauk sighed, distracted by Yasha’s gentle hand weaving through his hair. None of the Nein mentioned any problems or hesitations about calling it a day. They talked of warm food and baths and blankets as Caleb hastily prepared the tower. A stew for dinner, maybe, or bowls and bowls of noodle soup. Both, they agreed. And a creme brulee for dessert. And hot chocolate! Perhaps someone should write this all down.

</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t eat much over dinner. Picking at the carrots and potatoes and sipping at broth, he could feel the glances of his friends as they avoided subjects until he excused himself from the table. Drifting up to his apartments, he tore off his clothes once more, dropping the coat and his tunic in the first room, and stumbling over his feet as the boots and layered socks followed. The leather pants missed the bed as the tiefling dropped himself into the steaming tub, the water closing up over him with a <em>plip! </em>
</p><p>Silence.
</p><p>Think of something, he thought. Think of anything.
</p><p>His head slowly rose out of the water. He looked at his face in the hazy reflection of the water; it was swollen and flush. He looked like a child.
</p><p>“You are a child,” Sehanine said, sitting lithely on the opposite edge of the tub. She picked at her nails as if she was nervous. 
</p><p>The tiefling stared at her, lips still under the surface. He slowly brought his legs up.
</p><p>“I know, we haven’t seen each other in a while,” she said. “Awkward time to interrupt, I know. I do not have a long while. Enough for a question.”
</p><p>“A question?”
</p><p>“Better not count that one as it,” the Moonweaver replied, a sad, but teasing smile crossed her face.
</p><p>Mollymauk sat up, scanning the ripple in the water as if that would provide a perfect question to ask a goddess. “Why - why am I feeling like this? I’ve never felt this awful before.”
</p><p>She was putting her white curls up in a bun made of space thread as she thought of an appropriate answer. “You’re at a crossroads of who you were before. There’s something evil waiting for you; a challenge you’ll certainly face - and I hope as my champion, you will know the right thing to do.”
</p><p>“What evil? The beast in the abyss?” He leaned to her. “What if I can’t?”
</p><p>Sehanine smiled and leaned to him as well, pressing her finger to the tiefling’s lips. “Untether yourself from what you believe is your fate,” she whispered - and within a moment, her form disappeared into stars, settling at the top of the water before breaking away within the bubbles. 
</p><p>Mollymauk gawked at the surface. He gave the water a slap. “But what does that even mean?!” he shouted, slapping it again. “Ugh!” He slipped under once more. 

</p><p> </p><p>Water dripped onto the rugs as he stepped out. His tail coiled around his leg. He walked to the full-length mirror - one decorated with silver and gold, intricate carving curled around the metals - staring at himself, studying once more. The eyes hidden amongst the tattoos seemed to have pulled themselves forward, as if the tattoos were layers of skin below them. It almost distracted from the long scar up his sternum, he noted, placing a hand over the mark. He hadn’t cut his hair in awhile, it stuck to his skin, dripping the bathwater into a splotted puddle hidden beneath the fluffy rug he was curling his toes into. A small calico cat approached him from a hole in the wall holding a ribbon in her mouth. Mollymauk bent down to take it, patting the creature on the head, and tied his hair up in a ponytail. 
</p><p>“Ope, we should’ve knocked.” He heard Fjord say at the entrance to his bedroom. “Back it up guys, back it up - he’s fucking naked, we can wa-”
</p><p>Mollymauk slipped to the wall, leaning into the doorway.
</p><p>	“Hey,” he said.
</p><p>	Fjord, with the line of people scattered behind him frantically exiting the second room, shifted to balance the tin tray he held. “H-hey,” he replied. “We, uh, we were worried that you didn’t eat much tonight. So, uh, I’d say we made this, but it was definitely the cats, but we got you some hot chocolate. Jester requested extra marshmallows, so there are some here on the side for you. If you wanted.”
</p><p>	The tiefling looked down at the tray and the delicate silver mug that steamed gently. A few marshmallows in it were already beginning to melt into the chocolate, but another plate of the treats piled in a pyramid were ready to soon replace them. Carefully, he took the platter from Fjord. “Thank you,” he said, meeting the half-orc’s eyes.
</p><p>	Fjord maintained determined eye-contact as his cheeks blushed a dark green. “What’re friends for, right?”
</p><p>	“Right.”
</p><p>	He shuffled in place, scratching below his nose. “You know, uh, I realize how uncomfortable being up here makes you - with your past and all - and, um, I feel you. I think you’re incredibly brave facing it.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk quietly huffed a laugh, smiling down at the drink. “I think stupid is a closer word to what I am.”
</p><p>	Fjord shook his head with a grin. “Well, sometimes bravery and stupidity go hand-in-hand. We’re all pretty stupid.”
</p><p>	The tiefling held his tongue. 
</p><p>	“Anyway,” Fjord exclaimed, “we wanted to make sure you were okay. And to let you know we have your back.”
</p><p>	“Thank you, Fjord.”
</p><p>	“Night, Mol.”
</p><p>	“G’night,” Mollymauk said, watching him duck his head out of the apartment. He looked back down at the tray of hot chocolate and marshmallows, closing his bedroom door with his tail. It smelt rich, and as he set it down on a table, the mug was pleasantly warm to the touch. He sat down on the rugs as he sipped it, dropping in a few marshmallows here and there.
</p><p>	A hushed unfurling of feathers rustled beside him, and Molly appeared sitting on the edge of the bed, looking fondly towards the door.
</p><p>	“We were roommates, once,” he said, tucking his hands under his thighs. “That’s not the first time he’s seen our dick.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk glanced down. “I suppose I could have slipped on a robe.”
</p><p>	“Nah,” Molly replied bluntly.
</p><p>	“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Mollymauk said, watching the spirit get up and walk about the room.
</p><p>	“Lucy’s been,” Molly started, overlooking the book with the peacock feather etched on the cover. “A little overwhelming, if I have to admit it.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk didn’t say anything.
</p><p>	“You can trust me, right?” the spirit asked, resting both of his hands over the gold feather. “Despite the trouble I’ve put you through? Despite what Lucien’s now going to put you through.” There was desperation in his eyes.
</p><p>	Mollymauk set his mug back on the platter, shifting around to get to his feet as he put on sleepwear for the night. He could feel the spirit watching him patiently; waiting for some sort of reply. When he finally walked up to him, he placed his hands over the translucent fingers, picking up the heavy book. Their eyes met as Mollymauk tilted his head towards the doorway.
</p><p>	Settling down in the grass, among the sounds of distant singing and druid chants, the pleasant chirping of cicadas, and the clear night sky above, Mollymauk opened the memory book, setting it down in front of Molly. The spirit leaned into it, watching the scenes play out with wistful amusement. Mollymauk laid back in the grass, letting his eyes close, just listening to the young voices of his friends mixed with his own.

</p><p> </p><p> <em>	“Everything is crumbling.” </em></p><p>
  <em></em>
</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>	<em>“You have to get out!” </em>
</p>
</div><p>	<em>“Can anyone hear me?” </em> </p>
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div><p> <em>	“Please help me!” </em></p></div><p>
  <em>“Open your eyes.” </em>
</p>
<p></p><div><p><em>“Come <strong>Nonagon</strong>, fulfill your role.”</em>
</p></div><p>
  <em>“Please wake up.” </em>
</p>
<p></p><div><p><em> <strong>“You have its eyes.” </strong></em> </p></div><p> </p><p>Mollymauk snapped up, alone in the center room of his apartment. His heart was pounding - the only thing he could hear. To his left, the memory book sat open, all the stories had run their course, it was frozen on the faces of Beau, Veth, and Molly. He reached over and shut the book; focusing on getting his heart rate to slow. The thud rippled the small body of water that was made in the corner of the room. The ripples lit up from underneath - a deep scarlet glow. Mollymauk pressed his hand over the base of his neck, his heartbeat was climbing. He peered into the water, at the reflection of the night sky on the ceiling; a familiar reflection. 
</p><p>A drop distrubed the surface - a splash of red dispersed in the liquid. Mollymauk squinted at it, then up to the ceiling to which nothing was leaking. He looked back down.
</p><p>His reflection looked back at him. Its eyes bled as a smile creeped onto his face. The tiefling brought his hand to his face, wiping away at nothing. The reflection wiped at his face too, blood smearing across his cheek. 
</p><p>The red glow grew darker as eyes lit up the sky above his reflection. Mollymauk couldn’t look away. The eyes ate the sky, ate the moon, and as the noise in the room erupted out into screams and the sound of falling buildings, and his reflection screamed with them - until the eyes turned downward - and ate him too.

</p><p> </p><p>Mollymauk woke up crying. Laying in the same spot he fell asleep; the memory book was replaying the last scene between Molly and his friends, never ending until it was shut. He heaved a few sobs into his lap, touching the grass and walls around him, pinching his skin to make sure that this was reality. The moon was still in the illusionary sky, the druid music still played softly in the distance. 
</p><p>He managed to get to his knees, holding back the awful sensation in his stomach as he imagined the bodies of people crushed, vaporized, things he would never wish upon anyone to have to see. And the creature - the nine eyes - behind it all. 
</p><p><em> “Will you still help us?” </em> A familiar voice interrupted the silence.
</p><p>Mollymauk stumbled to the wall, gripping the flat surface as he stared in fear at the same ghostly teenager from yesterday. It stood by the door to the first chamber, waiting for the tiefling to answer. 
</p><p>“Are you actually speaking to me?” he managed to whisper out. 
</p><p>The teen cocked his head. <em> “You are the only one who can see.” </em>
</p><p>“You’re a ghost,” Mollymauk said.
</p><p>It looked away from him, out the doorway. <em> “There are others trying to see,” </em> it replied, drifting through the walls. 
</p><p>The tiefling sputtered, slipping to get to his feet. “W-wait,” he called, following it out the door. It was out of his rooms before he could say another word. He pulled his coat on as he leapt down the circular hole in the center of the tower. 
</p><p>His feet hit the stone of the bottom silently. The stained glass windows above him let out a soft, dim light - each full of color as they reflected on the floor. Mollymauk stared at the tower’s entrance - a thin light coming through the portal door, as if it was cracked. A breeze pushed the loose strands of his hair back. This wasn’t right. He looked back up the circular spiral.
</p><p>“We’re all pretty stupid,” he whispered. 
</p><p>He peaked out of the pocket dimension.
</p><p>It was hard to tell what time of day it was with how little light the chasm would allow in. The icy walls were a hardened dark blue at the base, easing up to a shade not unlike Jester’s skin. Footprints still disturbed the ground - the ones they made alongside the prints made before they arrived. The temperature remained the same as it was - still hitting Mollymauk’s face like a brick wall when he leaned out a little further. Ahead of him, just by a few yards, stood the ghost; it looked at the site without a tangible expression. It glanced over its shoulder to the tiefling, and flitted up the worn out steps of the larger structure.
He stepped out of the tower without a second thought.
</p><p>He ran, his socks immediately soaking through as he slipped and glided on icy patches of snow. The fallen building grew larger the closer he got, the sounds of people talking lurking in his head. Answers provided some solace; even if they weren’t answers he wanted to hear. If the people of Aeor were somehow still connected to a plane - if he was connected to it - they knew what happened with the abyssal creature, right?
</p><p>The door was heavy to push open through layers of snow. Mollymauk huffed a warm breath of air into the collar of his coat, pressing his nose into the fur. His feet were tingling. The room was open with large, grandiose and elegant beams meant to hold up the ceiling; some lay toppled, crumbled to pieces; the ceiling it was meant to support followed down after it. The footsteps from outside led deeper into the room. He kept a wary eye on them while searching for the hazy image of the ghost.
</p><p>“Hello?” he called out.
</p><p>A gentle creek reverberated along the vaults, some snow drifted down. Mollymauk held his breath, scanning the space above him.
</p><p><em>“It all happened so fast,”</em> the boy appeared several feet away from him - blankly staring at the walls. Mollymauk quickly turned his attention back to him.
</p><p>“What happened?” he asked.
</p><p><em> “It was summoned out of nowhere. We couldn’t look away.” </em>
</p><p>A whisper of another phantom walked between them. Mollymauk stepped back.
</p><p><em>“We were punished for our accomplishments,”</em> it whispered.
</p><p>“Accomplishments?” Mollymauk mouthed. The ghosts were multiplying, staring at him as they blinked in and out of his vision.
</p><p><em> “A punishment so cruel, the prime gods themselves aligned with such a monster.” </em>
</p><p><em>“You have its mark.” </em>
</p><p> <em>“You have conflicting marks.” </em>
</p><p><em> “Who are you?” </em>
</p><p><em> “Who are you?” </em>
</p><p>Dozens of them, of varying ages and race, appeared closer and closer to the tiefling; the young teenager he had originally followed was just a phantom face amongst the crowds whose voices echoed off the walls. Mollymauk stepped back again; he raised a hand.
</p><p>The ghosts stopped. Gawking his way, not quite making eye-contact with the tiefling as he lowered his hand slowly. Some phantoms in the back dissipated from view. For a moment, Mollymauk thought: perhaps they could not apparate for long. But it was just a moment. A dark feather danced its way to the snow in front of the tiefling’s face.
</p><p>“Oh-” he breathed, feeling the impact of leather boots strike hard on his back. He was struck to the ground, face breaking the black ice below. The heavy clap of wings vibrated the ground as Mollymauk looked up from the bloodied ice to the half-elven champion removing his mask.
</p><p>“This is not the place to be,” he said. “This was why you should not be roaming.” 
</p><p>Mollymauk felt around his body - of course he didn’t grab his scimitar, nor his hidden blade. Of course the damned acorn was in his tunic pocket.
</p><p>“You are a conflict waiting to destroy this world,” Vax’ildan said, removing a dagger from his belt. “I asked you once to understand.”
</p><p>“I am not a danger to people,” Mollymauk replied, propping his toes up to ready a dodge. “Sehanine chose me.”
</p><p>Vax’ildan frowned, folding his wings back. “She can’t; she shouldn’t have. You were already stained with the mark of the Betrayer Gods. She herself was there in the battle; she herself was here for this city’s collapse. Even if this is a fool’s errand to save you - I’m afraid the Matron still demands to remove you from play.”
</p><p>As he thrusted his blade forward, Mollymauk threw himself to the side, throwing up a moonbeam spell as high as he could muster in the space the rogue landed in. It was enough time to get to his feet - to start to run for the door.
</p><p>His face made contact with the ground once again, a gloved hand pushing his head down.
</p><p>“You are unarmed, you have no armor!” Vax’ildan shouted, a sense of pity in his voice. “You cannot win this time. I will not let you get away from me.” He held his position over the tiefling, a knee digging into the curve of Mollymauk’s spine while the tiefling struggled to move his face out of the snow. “I’m sorry.”
</p><p>Mollymauk felt the burning pain between his ribcage, biting down on his tongue until he tasted blood, he screamed out a curse of Infernal, the flames from the cantrip and ice crusting over the wound pushed the half-elf to stand up. He kicked his leg out to hit the rogue in the knee, frantically looking out to the empty space next to him. “Molly!” he cried, holding out his hand.
</p><p>The spirit formed in front of him, hand grasping his own, a determined smile on his face. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said, disappearing into the tiefling’s frame. The Moonweaver’s markings lit up once more over his arms and chest, curling up his face as Mollymauk flipped to his back to meet Vax’ildan’s eyes. He had no pleasure in this - but let his hands clap together between them.
</p><p>And the coat of Molly dispersed through the room in a blinding light of color and shape. It pushed at the Raven Queen’s champion, blowing back his cloak and feathers as if he was journeying through a portal.
</p><p>It was exactly how it appeared - this grand illusion of a forest outside Whitestone. Vax’ildan turned in place, his face constricted in confusion. The image moved with him, the castle ahead grew closer. Mollymauk lay outside the cube, pressing his hand against the wound in his back. He managed to heal it slightly. The cold was settling deep into his legs; trying to stand wasn’t worth dropping concentration on the distraction. So he crawled. Painfully slow, he pulled himself back. He could see slightly inside the illusion - Vax’ildan staring longingly at a woman who looked vaguely like himself, who spoke silent words to an image of Keyleth - perfectly replicated straight from Mollymauk’s memory. The woman had a child in her arms, much like how the Ashari described to him.
</p><p>The eye tattoos under the activated markings of Sehanine began to ache. Muscles seizing under him where the eyes glowed through the blue aura. Mollymauk, frankly, started to panic.
</p><p>There was a silence to the room, as Vax’ildan slowly began to realize the distorted reality around him. His melancholic face grew angry with frustration, with embarrassment. The illusion was cracking, as was the Moonweaver’s etchings.
</p><p>“Mollymauk!” a call came from outside the building.The Nein had exited the tower.
</p><p>The Matron’s champion marched towards the tiefling, ignoring the moving environment around him. Two daggers slipped into his hands. Mollymauk’s mind was racing, flipping from the calls of his friends to approaching death and the endless possibilities between.
</p><p>“Mollymauk!”
</p><p>Vax’ildan shattered through the major image, throwing a blade to pin Mollymauk where he was. “I’ll make sure your friends don’t have to see,” he said, “Desperation makes people do unwarranted things.”
</p><p>The tiefling blinked back tears, unable to focus any energy to Wild Shape or try another image spell through the flickering Moonweaver symbols the peacock spirit was upholding. He hardly noticed Lucien forming to his side, a sly smirk settling on his face as he slid into Mollymauk’s form too.
</p><p>The two entities sandwiching Mollymauk’s soul was a sheer pump of adrenaline - he lifted up his arm, the sleeve of his coat sliding down to the elbow to reveal the snake whose eye burned red. The others on his body burned through the blue and silver magic as Mollymauk locked his stare on Vax’ildan.
</p><p>The half-elf lurched to a stop. At first it could be perceived as a simple pause in action; but slowly the rogue was pulled from the ground, his hands slipping to an entity at his throat. Mollymauk had never seen such a demon before. Vax’ildan’s eyes flashed around the room, searching. Could he not see this creature? His hand twisted leisurely; the man twisted in the air.
</p><p>“Mollymauk!” The voice of Jester was easily recognizable.
</p><p>His mind ticked. <em>Just kill him - get this thing off of your back. </em>
</p><p>Tick. <em> This isn’t right; this isn’t humane. </em>
</p><p>“Mollymauk,” Caleb shouted, standing in the doorway. Mollymauk couldn’t see his face, but he heard the apprehension in his voice. “She’s coming, Mollymauk, the </p><p>Tempest is coming.”
</p><p>Vax’ildan’s eye dripped with blood. 
</p><p>Tick. <em>That’s enough,</em> he thought. <em> Get out of my head. </em>
</p><p><em>I saved your life.</em>
</p><p><em>This is enough, get out!</em>
</p><p>The Mighty Nein watched as Mollymauk, eyes gleaming red across his body, dropped his arm, and the body of the Raven Queen’s champion thudded to the ice.</p></div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mm.<br/>Mmmhm. <br/>Yeah that happened.</p><p>The second fight with Vax was going to go a plethora of ways up until the point when I started writing these guys going up north. The Raven Queen killed the god of death that was around during the Calamity, so she can't really have much of a say - but Sehanine was there, for sure! Look at her just being vague af! Taking someone who a Betrayer god already claimed as his bitch. What a woman.</p><p>Mollymauk: I am hurting<br/>The m9: we are here, hello<br/>Mollymauk: wait</p><p>Per usual, thank you all for your patience. It's been a crazy few months with hospital visits and juggling a second job and selling cosplay prints,,, but it was nice to sit down for a few days and smash this one out.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Unprecedented</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've been writing while at work in between setting the kids up for their lessons and over my lunch breaks, so if I missed any typos then whoopsie! I need to upload this tonight before the episode that may destroy us all because I'll be away from my laptop over the weekend and also I need to buy a new battery because... Apple products. I'm stuck against the wall and I hate writing in one spot.<br/>Anyway<br/>Some more Molly3 for you all! Right where we left off!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> There was an eerie groan throughout the ruins. A sound that stirred no snow, nor rocked the fallen doric columns that lay draped across slabs of stone. It simply rumbled deep within. 
</p><p>	Frost flaked across the eyelashes of the lavender tiefling who sat up on his elbows, staring ahead with his mouth agape; a small quiver to his lips as he couldn’t comprehend the body that lay now in front of him. The adrenaline he felt just moments before had poured out of his body with the blood that puddled from his back onto the black ice beneath him. He felt nothing now. A bickering of voices from the back of his mind drowned out his own heartbeat. 
</p><p>	The champion couldn’t have been dead, he thought. That was an impossible notion. The half-elf was already dead beforehand - he was of the Raven Queen. 
</p><p>	But the ascended form of the rogue was not moving, laying in a pool of his own blood. Mollymauk looked to his hand, bringing his palm to his eye. It was warm, despite the frozen air around him. 
</p><p>	The blurred, unfocused movement of the Mighty Nein swarming in didn’t deter him from staring at his hand with abhorrent horror. 
</p><p>	“Don’t touch me!” he said, flinching away from Yasha’s reaching arms.
</p><p>	<em>Welcome to the Somnovum’s power! </em>
</p><p> <em>You’ve gone mad. </em>
</p><p> <em> We’ve taken the next step for my future. </em>
</p><p>	“I don’t know what the fuck is happening,” Mollymauk whispered, covering his face. “Why is this happening to me? I don’t want this.”
</p><p><em>It’s all we’ve wanted. </em>
</p><p>	“I don’t,” he said, as Yasha coddled him. Her hand pressed against the hole in his back. The voices of Aeor rose and fell like waves in his head, gibberish. The darkness behind his eyes ran like static.

	</p><p> </p>
<p>	Yasha wrapped her coat around Mollymauk - who stopped mumbling to himself and simply sat with his face covered. She glanced at Caleb. He stood between the two groups - the few that looked on the fallen stranger and the others who circled Mollymauk.
</p><p>	“Caleb,” she said.
</p><p>	“Ja,” he replied, his eyes darting around, landing on a smoother, dry area of the building. “Bring them over here,” he said. He began casting the dome, making it as warm as possible. His brow tensed as he tried not to glance over at his friend in Yasha’s arms.
</p><p>	Fjord and Beau carefully dragged the unconscious champion into the dome with Caduceus right on their heels, looking over the strange injuries he acquired. Beau immediately went to tie his hands together.
</p><p>	“Is that necessary?” Caduceus asked, wiping the blood from the half elf’s face.
</p><p>	“Was no one really going to share that this guy has been stalking Molly this entire time? That maybe we all should have been keeping an extra eye out?” she argued, fuming. “We travel to a crazy place, first to do with Molly’s strange cult and probably fucked up life story; and we all decide to let him out of our sight?”
</p><p>	“We didn’t decide that, Beau,” Fjord interjected. “We can’t predict what Molly’s gonna do - he isn’t - I mean - we’re not going to keep him prisoner as we’re up here.”
</p><p>	She backed off from the rope. “That isn’t what I meant. There should be at least one of us though keeping watch on him though. How many times has he disappeared on us only to end up hurt or in trouble? Too many times, Fjord!”
</p><p>	“Beau,” Caleb hushed. She turned her head to him. “I agree with you, but now is not the time to be raising your voice.” His head cocked towards Jester and Yasha - who were talking quietly to the tiefling, healing the wounds left by the Raven Queen’s champion. As Jester gently pulled Mollymauk’s hands from his face, Caleb noticed the half-lidded, glazed over look that Mollymauk gave, and the ever so slight motion of his lips. 
</p><p>	“Jester,” he said, crawling over to the three of them. “Is he saying anything?”
</p><p>	Both Jester and Yasha tilted their ears down to their friend’s mouth.
</p><p>	“It doesn’t sound much like anything…” Yasha said, looking at the group with growing concern. 
</p><p>	“It sounds like <em> grchrgrch</em>, like really low,” Jester added. She put her hands behind the growing horns of Mollymauk’s head and tilted his face back. “He isn’t choking, is he? Molly! Are you choking?”
</p><p>	Not much movement was required for everyone to shift over to listen to the resonant gurgling escaping the tiefling’s mouth.
</p><p>	“Deep Speech?” Beau replied, leaning back. “Molly didn’t know Deep Speech, did he?”
</p><p>	“No,” Yasha said. “I’m pretty sure he didn’t.”
</p><p>	Caleb peeked carefully at the silver thread along Mollymauk’s chest, beneath the thin layer of his sleepwear; it was untouched. “You’ve already healed his back, ja?”
</p><p>	Jester nodded. “It was the first thing I did.”
</p><p>	The wizard sat thinking. He looked at his hands, then back to the disassociated Mollymauk sitting in front of him. Yasha picked the dried blood from his hair absentmindedly. “Well,” he said, “here goes nothing.” Placing his hands on either side of Mollymauk’s face, he pressed his thumbs to the center of his forehead. His jaw clenched, trying not to pay attention to the pitch change in the desperate gurgling talk as the red eyes looked past him.
</p><p>	He cast dispel magic.
</p><p>	There was a moment of nothing. Just a second of the ice that had finally melted from the tiefling’s eyelashes that slowly dripped down his cheeks. Lavender hands with fingers cold to the touch lithely took Caleb’s wrists. The human watched Mollymauk’s eyes refocus, blinking back the film. And unlike most of the trip, within an instant, the dull blooms around his hair and horns erupted into bluebells and clovers as the tiefling leaned back into Yasha’s frame.
</p><p>	Caleb let his fingers glide off his face, letting a sigh of relief with it.
</p><p>	Mollymauk felt Yasha’s fur coat around his shoulders, and looked to the rest of the Nein with tempered confusion inside the crystal tinted dome.
</p><p>	Yasha was the first to speak again. “Are you alright?”
</p><p>	He looked up at her. “Aye,” he said. “It’s quiet now. Sorry for yelling at you.”
</p><p>	The aasimar lightly laughed in disbelief. “That wasn’t what worried me.”
</p><p>	“I spaced out for a minute,” he replied. “There was just a lot of, um…” He motioned to his head. “Talking. Spirits, and all. Arguing.”
</p><p>	“A minute?” Veth said, picking out rations from her bag. “More like ten, holy shit, Molly, you really had Jester second guessing her ability as a cleric.”
</p><p>	“I just,” Mollymauk started, furrowing his brows. “I just closed my eyes for a moment.”
</p><p>	Fjord, pursed his lips. “I mean you were spouting out some -”
</p><p>	“How about some of you check out this place, ja?” Caleb interrupted, looking over his shoulder at Veth, Fjord, and Beau. “Take Frumpkin with you. There were a few hallways not as blocked to our right, over there. I think I saw the footprints go that way as well.”
</p><p>	The three stood up, stealing a glance from one another as they grabbed their weaponry. Beau dug her toe into the ground, giving Caleb a final look before she followed the others deeper into the excavation site. There was a heavy silence that followed. Caduceus, kneeling by Vax’ildan, kept his face towards the body, although his eyes blinked in their direction. A spasm of possibility and theories whirled through Caleb’s head; he wished he knew more, could do more, prevent more of the curses that this strange arcane city threw at them - threw at Mollymauk. He almost wished he could speak to Lucien about it.
</p><p>	He felt Mollymauk’s contempt frown at his shoulder. 
</p><p>	“Was it bad?” Mollymauk asked.
</p><p>	Yasha cleared her throat. “It was different enough to be worrisome.”
</p><p>	“Please don’t do that again, Molly,” Jester said, hugging her arms around the tiefling’s waist, she rested her head on his chest.
</p><p>	“Why did you leave the tower?” Caleb turned to them, the lines in his face deep. “You know that dangerous things were - are - after you.” The anger in his voice surprised him just as much as the tensing in the tiefling’s shoulders.
</p><p>	“Sorry -”
</p><p>	“We don’t need you to be sorry, we need to know why!”
</p><p>	“Caleb!” Caduceus raised his voice.
</p><p>	The wizard held his tongue, lowering his head to stare at the ground. He pinched the bridge of his nose. It was he who was on watch back up in the snow; it was his tower; and his friend just ran from both.
</p><p>	“There was a kid,” Mollymauk said. “The same one from the blizzard. He was in my room.”
</p><p>	“He was in the tower? That’s impossible, it’s a pocket dimension,” Caleb replied.
</p><p>	“I don’t know if he was physically there or if I was just seeing him,” Mollymauk gestured to his off colored eye, “but he wasn’t the only spirit I saw when I came down here. There were hundreds of them.”
</p><p>	“But why did you follow?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk stared off a little - to the space around outside of the dome. “I wanted to know,” he said. “I needed to know.”
</p><p>	Caleb sat back, defeated. Running a hand through his unbrushed hair, he let his gaze fall towards the dark one next to Caduceus. The one who knocked him unconscious in one move back near the grove. The man hadn’t moved in the firbolg’s hands, hardly a twitch of a finger.
</p><p>	“Is he dead, Mister Clay?” Mollymauk whispered. Yasha held him upright while Jester was pulling his winter clothes from a bag.
</p><p>	The cleric hummed. Any blood that was leaking from the half-elf’s orifices had stopped on their own accord before he went in and healed what he could. While there was no pulse he could feel, the skin remained warm. Caduceus finally looked up at the rest of the group. “Well,” he said, “he certainly isn’t dead the way we know it, no.”
</p><p>	“Oh,” grunted Mollymauk as Jester tightened his coat around him. “And Miss Keyleth is coming? Will she know what to do?”
</p><p>	“We can only assume,” Caduceus said. “With the way magic works up here, we don’t know how long it will take for her to arrive. So we’ll likely be stuck with this one for a while.”
</p><p>	Yasha let her friend lean off of her, watching as he slowly crawled over to the man’s body and sit by it. 
</p><p>	Mollymauk looked over Vax’ildan’s clothing, to the small loops and hooks that hid more blades and vials, and plucked away at the daggers. He slid them across the ground to Yasha’s leg. The one on both arms, three along his right thigh, he was an arsenal of small blades. A dozen daggers eventually piled up next to Yasha - who in turn shoved them all into her bag. 
</p><p>	“There,” Mollymauk murmured. “That’s much better.” His fingers glided over the black raven skull at the base of his neck.
</p><p>	“He has a, uh, pretty dope aesthetic if you ask me,” Yasha said, gesturing to the bones up his shoulder. “I’m surprised we never hear the squeaking of all that leather.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk laughed, looking over his shoulder at her with a smile. “You know, I was thinking the same thing,” he said, feeling his face grow warm. “I’ve never been so close to him without taking severe injury. He’s quite handsome.”
</p><p>	“As if that excuses what he’s done,” said Caleb.
</p><p>	“No, of course not.”
</p><p>	Jester inserted herself into the other half of the dome. “Anyone would look sexy in leather though,” she added, “even you Caleb!” She turned to him with a bright smile. The human pressed his lips together in a deflated smile. “The others have been gone for a little while - should I send a message?”
</p><p>	“Ah, let me check in,” Caleb replied, sitting more comfortably to blink over to Frumpkin. “Gut, they’re all alive.”
	
</p><p> </p>
<p>	From the short height of the cat familiar, the halls were massive. Tinted marble and stone walls with the smallest details even along the floor - arcane symbols carved delicately, not quite worn away from the elements. Frumpkin could see Veth scurrying in and out of small cracks in the rubble, speaking of another empty room on the small side, with some tables and chairs knocked around. Fjord suggested some sort of learning facility - the way large schools were set up similarly. Beau copied the sigils around them in her notebook. She peeked up from her papers, eyeing the cat.
</p><p>	“Oh hey again, Caleb,” she said, going back to her notes. “Not much to see around these halls, most rooms are the same. The footprints go deeper down this one if we want to go exploring, but probably not a good idea to split us up any further.”
</p><p>	“How’s Mol?” Fjord asked, leaning down to the cat. Frumpkin licked at his own paw and pawed at his ear. “That’s good… right?” The half-orc looked up to Beau. “I don’t understand cats.”
</p><p>	With Veth trodding over, fresh from exploring a room, she scooped the familiar up in her arms - Frumpkin’s hind legs drooping to the floor from the halfling’s height. “I’m good on the heading back plan. Having a drink before we all go and die sounds like a better option than venturing down without one.” She scooped the rest of the orange cat up, leading the trio back the way they came, avoiding the footprints they had followed. 
	
</p><p> </p>
<p>The eight of them sat around Vax’ildan, watching him, watching each other. Veth slowly sipped at the tea Caduceus brewed under the dome, dragging her gaze from the body to Caleb. “We could put him in the amber?”
</p><p>	Caleb’s face scrunched up. “I don’t know,” he said, itching his nose. “If at any point he wakes up and doesn’t count as a non-living object, I’m not sure what will happen then.”
</p><p>	“Would he ever count as a non-living object?” asked Beau, poking the rogue’s arm with her staff.
</p><p>	“He’s not an object,” Mollymauk asserted, then paused. “Is he?”
</p><p>	“Well, he’s not a corpse, so,” Caduceus said. His tail thumped inquisitively behind him. “I don’t think whatever he technically is would be non-living… In a ‘deities are weird like that’ way.”
</p><p>	Jester leaned over to Mollymauk. “Are you non-living?” she whispered loudly.
</p><p>	The tieflings shared a mild look. Mollymauk tilted his head down to her. “I think I’m fairly alive. If that’s one reason why dagger-boy has his leather tied in a bunch, I fortunately have a beating heart.”
</p><p>	“We aren’t going to just leave him here,” Yasha said, “If he does wake up, we have to be ready for it.”
</p><p>	“And if he doesn’t wake up, we have some explaining to do to the Tempest.” Beau crossed and uncrossed her legs. “Not sure what relationship they had, but I don’t think she would be too happy if she arrived and he’s just dead-dead.”
</p><p>	“Aye,” Mollymauk said. “I could Wild Shape; just carry him along.”
</p><p>	“Mollymauk,” Yasha said, “that could be dangerous.”
</p><p>	“I can still fight with a person on my back. If he’s taking up your arms, then you’re defenseless unless you plan on using him as a shield.”
</p><p>	The barbarian gave a look of contemplation. “He would sort of deserve it.”
</p><p>	“So we’re bringing this guy into the site with us,” Fjord clarified. “He’s not after anything that could be down there, right? If he wakes up, we aren’t going to have to beat him up again, are we?”
</p><p>	Caleb shook his head. His hand landed firmly on Mollymauk’s shoulder, “Nein, the only thing this one is after is our purple friend here. We’d only be putting him down if he decides to try and lay a hand on them again.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk’s tail flicked.
</p><p>	“If you all don’t mind,” the tiefling said, “if we have the dome for a couple more hours, I would really like to rest; I used up a lot of energy fairly fast this morning.”
</p><p>	They nodded, breaking out their stored rations and laxed, the light of the dome dimmed. Huddled into the mass of Yasha’s fur coat, Mollymauk simply let the events of the morning, and the silence in his head, drift off for the few hours that were allowed to him.
</p><p>	He woke up to Jester drafting a Message to Keyleth, explaining how they would be down the right most hallway of the excavation site they were in; Vax along with them; it was a long story. Fjord sat across from her - counting the words of the spell to get it perfectly; it didn’t end as well as when they practiced it. He felt a promptu weight on his head as the blue tiefling slid his helm over his horns, gently pressing the flowers to his head. 
</p><p>	“For safety,” she said.
</p><p>	“Aye,” he replied, getting to his feet. He scanned the large room they were in, debating animals in his head. The cold hit them as soon as the dome dispersed; everyone huddled into their clothes. 
</p><p>	Beau and Yasha pulled up on the ropes keeping the Raven Queen’s champion’s hands back, the folded black wings formed tightly to his body, they looked up to Mollymauk expectedly. Mollymauk cracked his fingers.
</p><p>	“Haven’t done this one yet,” he said, and Wild Shaped into an eleven foot tall polar bear - its white fur tinted lavender where it was thickest, his large paws made no sound as he landed on all fours.
</p><p>	Jester gasped, running up to him. “You’re so cute!” she cried, throwing her arms around the thick of his neck. The polar bear’s head was larger than half her body. “Can I ride too?” she asked while Beau and Yasha chucked Vax’ildan over Mollybear’s back. 
</p><p>	“I mean,” Yasha paused. Mollybear dragged Jester with his neck as he twisted it around to look. “Yeah, sure, I guess if you keep this guy from sliding off.”
</p><p>	The trickster cleric cheered, booping the bear’s nose as she heaved herself up on the back behind Vax. 
	
</p><p> </p>
<p>	Not feeling the ice underneath the pads of his paws felt bizarre, but such a welcome change to Mollymauk. If only Ku’ra could see him now, not sliding around like he once did through mud trying to learn how to walk on all fours. There was a strange gaunt to the way white bears walked; he felt Jester rock from side-to-side on his back, keeping one hand tucked underneath his fur for balance. There was some comfort in it - knowing she was there.
</p><p>	Veth was right in her assumption that most of the rooms were empty. They passed by six rooms; those that were not completely caved in, had no interesting features that differed from the usual carvings along the walls. Glass lay shattered in rooms the further they went, following the footprints of a party consisting of three or four people. An occasional room sported books - which prompted Caleb to shimmy between collapsed walls. 
</p><p>	“Ah,” they heard him rasp, “that is tragic.”
</p><p>	He reappeared in the crack with a decomposing book in hands.
</p><p>	“This is so sad.”
</p><p>	There wasn’t much legible on the pages that were slowly crumbling away. Similar text that was set in the same vane as the arcana in the hallways. With not enough time for Caleb to cast a Comprehend Languages spell, they discarded the book and continued on. 
</p><p>	A strange smell wafted through the air. Mollymauk could smell it through his bear nose before anyone else for a solid ten minutes of walking. It was a chemical smell, something rancid mixed in - something like blood. It wasn’t until the Nein reached a drop in the floor did the rest of them smell a tidbit of the former.
</p><p>	“Smells like a public bath after they clean it,” Beau said, rubbing her nose. “If the bathhouse was, like, really fucking disgusting beforehand.”
</p><p>	The drop continued downward as far as they could see. There were few ledges of ice on the way down before it disappeared into darkness. The eight of them stared over the edge, then to each other. Mollymauk huffed, the warm air clouding out around them. He knew he was over eight hundred pounds at the moment - it would take both Caleb and Jester polymorphed into giant eagles to carry him down. 
</p><p>	“Alright,” he said, shifting out of WIld Shape - and in the moment, the weight of Vax tied around him and Jester on his back pulled him immediately to the ground. The rogue was surprisingly firm to land on. “Someone tie a rope or something, but let’s be quiet about it, aye? There’s likely something dead or dying down there.”
</p><p>	“Stealthy,” Veth said, crouching, “I’m on it.” It didn’t take long before she grappled herself over the ledge. Her bright coat disappeared into the foggy haze of the cold beneath them. Some four minutes dragged on before Caleb popped to attention.
</p><p>	“Okay,” he said aloud, “Just stay there and we’ll meet you down momentarily. You sure that it’s just water? No creatures?” Pause. “No, don’t start swimming to the opening, we’ll come to you first.”
</p><p>	“Water?” Jester said, “It must be freezing if it’s not already frozen!”
</p><p>	“Ah sweet memories,” Mollymauk murmured over to Beau and Caleb. “Nothing like meeting in frozen waters.”
</p><p>	A small quiver of a smile made Beau scoff. “Ideally, we avoid the water. Caleb, what did she say about an opening?”
</p><p>	“The water is taking up much of the space, but there are stairs leading out of it. It’ll be a feat to avoid getting wet altogether, but not impossible. Just a simple flooded room.”
</p><p>	“A simple flooded room, right, right.”
</p><p>	Fjord took out his sword, casting Fly on himself as he drifted down the rope to check on Veth. He reappeared with an arm outstretched, “It’s a two foot gap between the water and the ceiling into the next room. Those who want to spend a spell on this can go for it, but I recommend one or two of us just making a few trips. Mol, I assume you’re going back to… bear.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk propped his chin on his elbows, the body of Vax’ildan still draped over his back. “Aye,” he said with a smile. He certainly would feel safer if he was twice the size and ten times the weight of the opposing champion on top of him. 
</p><p>	He made sure to be one of the first ones to shimmy down the rope. The air had a mist of frozen beads unlike the rest of what they walked through. The hemp immediately moistened, making the trek downwards blistering as their grips tightened. Veth was sitting at the bottom of the rope, legs firmly twisted around it, with another two dozen meters of free fall below her. She gave a defeated wave as Yasha arrived first. 
</p><p>	“Do you mind holding this for a moment, love?” Mollymauk asked, looking down to his barbarian friend. He grunted, his thighs holding onto the rope as he removed the half-elf from his back. Yasha took him, unfazed by the additional weight and nodded.
</p><p>	“Be careful,” she said, watching the tiefling prop his feet up.
</p><p>	“When am I not?” he teased. “Don’t actually answer that.”
</p><p>	With a flourish, Mollymauk let himself drop. A quick tumble and dive past his companions, the air felt quite warm breezing through his hair and clothes. He put his hands in front of him, feeling the sharp sting of the cold water on his fingertips - and immediately shifted back into his polar bear form. There was hardly a splash, having broken the surface with a tenth of his current body mass, the bear grazed the icy water. It was opaque water, darkest at the bottom, but Mollymauk was back up to the surface in just a moment, his furry back floating above it. He could see the crack of the next room; something he could swim right under to the staircase. No wonder Fjord worded it the way he did: it would take some crafty straight flying to maneuver there.
</p><p>	There was a sudden, less graceful, splash from behind. Mollymauk kicked his paws out under him to turn, watching the reddish-brown and white polar bear come up beside him. A small puff of warm breath snuffed from the Widobear’s nose. Mollymauk laughed inwardly, swimming around to match Caleb’s polymorphed form. He glanced up, watching Fjord fly up and down to grab Veth and Vax’ildan from Yasha, dropping them off atop Mollymauk and Caleb’s backs before flying back up. The two swam forward under the collapsed beams into a room backlit by a single ray of sunlight from, what they could only assume, the top of the chasm. Veth hopped off, onto the stone floor at the top of the stairs. With a heave and some curses, she dragged Vax off of Mollymauk’s back, giving the two a thumbs up to return for the others. Yasha and Beau came next, laying down on their stomachs on the damp fur, ducking their heads as they passed through the narrow space. The clerics followed suit as Fjord floated carefully behind.
</p><p>	Lifting his head from the water, Mollymauk could smell the stench of blood and chemicals like it was on his tongue. A glance to Caleb and he could smell it too, giving a big sneeze into the water with a shake of his head. He motioned for the copper bear to follow him out and up the stairs - avoiding situations like their dire wolf escapades earlier in the season. It didn’t take long to find the source of the smell. As soon as all eight of them were at the top of the stairs, the platform then stepped downwards again, into an oval shaped room with broken containers along the walls and a deceased creature cut open on the floor, laying in the fluids of itself and the preservatives around it. It didn’t look humanoid - not really. It’s skin was wrinkly, the body round and deflated, cut open like one would an orange. It’s blood was yellow, or at least, it was now, curving around the room like it was played with and dragged. Clearly it did not go down easy, however, as Beau walked around puddles of dark red blood that dripped in various directions.
</p><p>	“Looks like they kept going,” she said, pointing to the tracks that went through a door to their left. “What the fuck is that?”
</p><p>	It was a moment before Caleb was back to himself, not even hesitant to approach the creature while Yasha and Jester tossed Vax’ildan over Mollymauk’s Wild Shape once again. 
</p><p>	“Something that obviously offends the gods,” Caleb replied, stepping over the chunks of flesh. “And had the misfortune of surviving the destruction of the city. Blood magic was used here - recently,” he added, looking over to Mollymauk. “It appears we may know some of the footprints left.”
</p><p>	Veth and Jester moved closer to the door the prints left through. No sign of returning prints - either they haven’t left or there was another way out. The door led into a small hallway with another door on the other side - intricate; heavy looking.
</p><p>	The room they were already in, as shattered as most things were around them, was still set up in a school like setting - large round stone slaps, albeit broken, circled the center of the room where this creature now laid. 
</p><p>	<em> Drip. </em>
</p><p>	Mollymauk’s nose itched. The back of his neck grew warm, warm as it did earlier. He was watching his friends explore the space around him, but while he looked ahead, all he saw was the ceiling.
</p><p> <em>Drip. </em>
</p><p>	And a second creature attached to it. Yellow saliva dripped from the corner of its foamy mouth that stretched from one side of its round body to the other. It had legs, long, and thick at its base, that clung to the ceiling like a spider.
</p><p>	Mollymauk growled, moving his head to catch sight of the creature dropping itself down to the floor by its fallen brethren - its body twice the size of the one deflated and dead. The Mighty Nein fell back; Caleb crawled backwards to dodge one of its five legs as it dug them into the stone.
</p><p>	“Well, this doesn’t look good,” Caduceus said, propping his shield up. He removed his staff from his back, clicking it to the stone as it ignited in a swarm of beetles.
</p><p>	The creature bent down, releasing more saliva from its mouth onto the body of the one below it; it hissed, the skin breaking away, dissolved in the acid. And from the center of its being, dozens more of them - small, half the size of Veth, poured out in all directions.
</p><p>	“Oh, this doesn’t look good at all,” said the firbolg, backing up from the horde. 
Fjord was the first to hurl fistfulls of Eldritch blasts at the tiny yet vicious creatures. Caleb broke away from the center of the room, his fingers twitching as he mentally recounted his spells he had prepared. Beau leapt over him - swinging her bo staff down and crushing some of the creatures after multiple barrages; she cursed as she did so, annoyed at how sturdy the things bodies were. The large creature stalked about the room, taking a jab at Yasha, who barely got out of the way of its leg, the bladed-like edge cutting through her shoulder as she returned the blow with her sword. Jester raised her voice in a shriek that reverbated off the stone and ice - summoning her spiritual weapon to barrel into the creature. 
</p><p>Mollymauk swatted his claws at the small spider-like balls that bit and jumped at them; three went flying to his right, caught by Caduceus’ beetles. Some went around, nipping at his passenger on his back; he felt the small legs jab into his skin like needles. He twisted and bit, growling at the ugly things. Caleb clapped his hands to the ground, a web of fire burning the legs of the creatures as they teetered in every direction around him; some burst into a puddle of acid, even smaller creatures inside burning up in the flames.
</p><p>“They just keep splitting,” he said, “like a hydra, but far less appealing.” He blocked another with a quickly timed shield.
</p><p>A timed arrow shot its way over their head as Veth aimed at the larger monster, and just as quickly, dove back behind a slab of stone. “If we kill this one, are more of these things going to crawl out?” she shouted to the three of them.
</p><p>Beau’s frustrated cussing grew quiet the further she made it into beating the hell out of the horde, pulling her feet and fists back as acid splashed, mixing into the blood on the ground.
</p><p>Mollymauk shuffled backward, slamming his weight down on the things stabbing into his stomach from below. The acid stung, but his form remained for now. He watched Yasha and Jester be joined by Fjord in keeping the large one at bay, but the damage done was minimal. Whatever the people of Aeor thought they were creating, if it was for military purposes or merely a crazy science experiment, they succeeded in forming a reckless monster. It almost looked like a skinned Beholder turned spider, one to haunt dreams with.
</p><p>There was a shift of weight on his back. Mollymauk froze; it wasn’t any of the small creatures. A single beat of a heart against his skin, sent a shiver down his spine. A moment of silence existed between them while Mollymauk felt the turn of leather on his fur. There was a confused huff, and an attempted unfurling of wings.

</p><p> </p>
<p>“This is quite unprecedented,” Vax’ildan said, pulling at the ropes at his hands. He curled his fingers - a dagger that usually sat in his wrist guard was gone. “Rude,” he sighed. Turning again, he noted the lavender tinted white fur of the large bear he laid on, surrounded by a shadowed room full of hissing, deforned aberrations and the familiar sight of a wizard he once knocked out and the companions of his target.
</p><p>The rogue looked ahead at the giant creature that the gods would surely have eviscerated. Peeling his hands out of the ropes that tied him, he pushed himself to a sitting position. It was a larger spread than sitting on Trinket, he thought, then the realization hit him. He patted the bear.
</p><p>“You,” he said. “How dare y-”
</p><p>The form beneath him dropped suddenly; Vax fell his height to the ground, a solid kick to his side before he hit sent the two of them tumbling to the side, rolling over each other until Mollymauk firmly landed on top. There was a blade to his throat before their bodies stopped skidding along the ice. The markings on the Moonweaver’s pick were lit up - the two of them disappearing from outside view.
</p><p>“You don’t get to berate me right now,” the tiefling spat. He took a moment to remove the blade and aim past Vax’ildan’s head, the mechanisms of the wristbow clicking into place before firing a bolt into the nearest abomination. “I’m sorry. For whatever that was back there. But I am not your enemy.”
</p><p>Vax’ildan blinked. “That’s not how -”
</p><p>“I know that’s not how it works! I know!” Mollymauk screamed at him. It gartered the attention of his team, who turned their attention towards the area amidst their fighting. “But now is not the time to be fighting you. The third time will not be now. I have friends to protect; and their safety is my highest priority. If you want to try and stop me - fine. But my love for them is stronger than my fear for you, and I will not let you get in my way.”
</p><p>The half-elf forcibly extended his wings out from under him, causing the two men to shift in place but remain in their current position. “That illusion was cruel,” he said, thinking of the two half-elven women. Mollymauk only looked down at him with a somber frown. “But I would have done the same if I were in your quandary.” He clicked his jaw, looking around at the party who were able to focus all their might on the large creature. “Why are you here?”
</p><p>“I think we’re preventing the release of whatever horror my cult is currently trying to summon again,” Mollymauk replied in earnest. “Well, not my cult, my past’s cult. I guess I awkwardly inherited it.” He paused. “I inherited a lot.”
</p><p>“I’m sorry.”
</p><p>“Not your fault.”
</p><p>The creature shrieked, the yellow bile and blood along the floor shot out like stalagmites - cutting through Fjord’s calf and under the wings surrounding the two invisible champions. Vax let his head loll, looking at the solid acid dripping onto his feathers. He looked at the creature, and at the ruin of Aeor. “Here’s the deal,” he said, patting his hands on Mollymauk’s thighs. “I’ll help you fight this thing; I’ll even -”
</p><p>“Deal,” the tiefling said, pushing himself up.
</p><p>“I didn’t even finish,” Vax’ildan complained. The invisibility left him as soon as Mollymauk ceased to touch him.
</p><p>“There really isn’t time to set up a contract, and I’m still working on my signature, thank you.”
</p><p>The bloodhunter drew his scimitar, readying his hidden blade. Vax rolled to his feet, his wings jutting out behind him - the acid being disregarded to the walls. He closed his fists, the leather folding quietly around his hands. It had been decades since he fought something different and shameful to the world. 
</p><p>“You have my daggers,” he said to Mollymauk. The tiefling glanced up to him.
</p><p>“I don’t actually, I gave them to my friend over there.”
</p><p>They looked at Yasha as she dove underneath the thing, carving her sword over its wrinkly skin. Vax pursed his lips.
</p><p>“Now, why would you do that?”
</p><p>“You are actively trying to kill me and you’re asking me why I disarmed you?” Mollymauk asked, beginning his run forward.
</p><p>“I’m a duel wielder,” Vax retorted. They ran up a broken slab together.
</p><p>“Oh, same!” replied the tiefling, glancing at his blades then to the unarmed half-elf. “That is quite unfortunate for you!” With a flourishing spin of his scimitar, nicking his forearm, he drew an ice coated blade downward towards the creature. The Mighty Nein looked up to see the reforming apparition of Mollymauk dropping down, with the dark expanded wings of the stranger they carried inside behind him. 
</p><p>Vax’ildan pricked his finger on the beak of the raven’s skull around his neck, casting Bane on the creature as he landed on top of it. “Good afternoon, my name is Vax’ildan Vessar, I’ll be your friend’s warden for the time being,” he said, giving the group a curt bow of his head, balancing as the creature curdled and screamed. “Tall, goth woman - great look - may I have my weapons back, if you don’t mind?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I figured I'd leave it at a not as gUH cliffhanger although I definitely could have. I debated it. But low on time here. Now it's time for me to watch this 5 hour episode RIP you guys I'll see you on the other side.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Here Be Monsters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Now I recognize, and I don't know if I've mentioned this before, I probably did, that the Tomb Takers have been described in much more detail since I started this series... <br/>Honestly, I'm surprised at how much I got right.<br/>But we're just going to ignore the halfling Otis thing for the sake of this fic because I do NOT want to go back and edit my psychotic elf to be a halfling. Mollymauk would just be looking down at them like "who is this lost child?" <br/>So from here on for the last few chapters, we'll be ignoring that. <br/>But I will continue to willy nilly make up things about Aeor and do the surprised pikachu face if I get anything right.</p>
<p>Content warning maybe? You know when I put Mollymauk through the grinder? Yeah that happens again. I think you guys see it coming. Every chapter that twink has to cry.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> Mollymauk’s friends were at a loss for words. Bruised and beaten, blood dripping idly from their wounds, the ease at which Vax’ildan maneuvered with half the effort they put in brought up both exacerbation and relief. Yasha looked to Mollymauk in the moment the half-elf asked for his blades. Mollymauk nodded, spinning his scimitar by the hilt lightly in his palm. She pulled the daggers from her belt and threw them with strength, not accuracy. Vax’ildan sidestepped thrice to grab the blades - one by the tip between his two fingers, another backhanded by his knuckles of the other hand and twisted into his hold. The creature bellowed, acid churning in its belly. 
</p><p>	“So wait, are you good now?” Beauregard asked, beating her staff at the legs of the thing. 
</p><p>	The dark rogue dragged his daggers down the side of the creature’s body, it’s wrinkly skin melting with it and popping at the folds. “I’ve always been the good one,” he replied, folding his wings in as he backed away from a defensive attack. 
</p><p>	Beau squinted at him as he stood next to her. “Have you though?”
</p><p>	“Less talking, more killing,” Veth cried, locking and loading another bolt - arcane energy spilling from the arrowhead. She slid in on her knees, sweeping across the damp floor. <em> “Fluffernutter!” </em>
</p><p> <em>“Fluffernutter!” </em> Jester screamed back. Fjord ran past, scooping up Mollymauk and Caleb in either arm.
</p><p>	“Backing up! Backing up!” he said, urging Caduceus, Yasha, and Beau to follow in haste as Jester launched a small barrel from her person.
</p><p>	“What’s a ‘fluffernutter?’” Vax’ildan asked, lining up his sights with the barrel, then over to the bolt aimed at the beast. “Oh, nevermind. Right.” He jumped back, covering several feet in one leap; watching in bemused awe as the blue tiefling and halfling lit up the room in fiery explosions. 
</p><p>	“I sure hope that there aren’t any others around,” Caduceus said, settling in behind a slab of broken column. “That would, to plainly put it, suck a whole lot.”
</p><p>	The room rumbled; snow and debris scattered to the floor, nearly avoiding the Nein taking cover. The noise was piercing. Mollymauk bit his lip until it broke, quickly frosting over itself, as he covered his ears and buried his face into his knees. The back of his neck was warm again - and the entire scene played out in his mind as if he were watching with his own eyes. He let a finger trace over the smooth skin - the shadow quickly moving over the image in his mind. 
</p><p>	Lucien, you fucking weirdo, he thought.
</p><p>	He could see - if that was the right word - a falling piece of the ceiling fall and slam into the creature; two long, bony legs crunching and snapping as it crushed one side of the thing. The foam and bile that sloshed out of its mouth was mixed with blood, sizzling upon impact with the floor. 
</p><p>	To his side, three friends away, he heard Vax’ildan say, “there are no others in this room. I would sense it.”
</p><p>	“Oh, sense it, of course, yeah, okay,” Beau replied, her voice slightly muffled by the noise that slowly died down. Only the desperate, angry gurgling coming from the creature was left.
</p><p>	Mollymauk could see through the eyes along his body, the creature pulling itself from the rubble. Its large, leaking mouth was dripping with blood between the teeth, more acid pouring from the corners. It jabbed an extended arm towards Veth - who narrowly dodged out of the way towards Jester. The lavender tiefling arched his hand toward the small opening in the ceiling of the room where a tiny beam of light showed through. He bent his fingers, and with his other hand pulling several seeds from his pouch, he threw them over his shoulder, casting Moonbeam centered on the abomination. The silver light shot through the middle of its body - a great shriek overtook the room. Mollymauk watched Vax’ildan spread his wings out - daggers palmed and ready as he launched back in between the Mighty Nein, gorging the weakened body of the creature. The beam slicing through the rogue champion’s wings as they did once in the Moon Druid fields. Vax’ildan’s boots hit the floor on the other side of the room, sliding along the ice until he stopped at the wall. 
</p><p>	The Nein looked over their cover as the thing’s legs crumbled from underneath; the guts and liquid from the inside poured out over the floor and down the steps. It smelt rancid. But the screams stopped. Only whispers of decaying stone and ice crackled softly in the hall. 
</p><p>	“Is everyone okay?” Fjord asked, looking down at Caleb and Mollymauk on either side of him, then over his shoulder to Jester and Veth who stood opposite of Vax’ildan.
</p><p>	Beau rubbed the blood from her nose with a sleeve. “If being okay is relative; sure.”
</p><p>	The firbolg stood up, wiping the dust from his coat. “I can prepare a healing spell for everyone; if that’s something we should do before testing the next room.”
</p><p>	“Probably a good idea,” Caleb said quietly, “I do not think waiting hours to rest would be smart if we are avoiding coming into contact with any of those things again.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk stood up, his heels wobbling lightly on the wet surface of the floor. His breath came out in a long drawn out cloud as he looked upon the scene with his own eyes. Like a dissected spider, the creature’s body lay across the room, a river of its insides flowing towards the water from the drop behind them. There was a mound of decaying flesh that dropped from its body. It sizzled softly on the floor beneath it. The tiefling stepped around the fallen debris, eyeing his friends who collected themselves and wiped dust and blood from their faces, to the mound, his hand settling lightly on the hilt of his scimitar. He looked at the folded up form, the arching curve of a melting spine, arm muscles that held up the rest of the disintegrating body; and a young face all too familiar.
</p><p>	“Gods,” Mollymauk cursed, stumbling backwards into Yasha who caught him from behind. He looked away from the melting boy from the group of young bandits he traveled with from the Marrow Valley. A large uncomfort settled in the back of his mind. “Cree’s troupe really has been here recently then,” he said into the crook of Yasha’s arm. Gliding a finger under the enchanted helm he wore, Mollymauk wiped the sweat forming along his hair.
</p><p>	“Is that?” Yasha asked, sparing a glance to the body.
</p><p>	“Aye,” he replied. He found his footing. Turning from Lisle’s form, he looked to the doorway they had investigated before. His mind was racing. If the Tomb Takers were here, hell, if Otis was here, he wouldn’t know how to react. He wouldn’t know how Lucien and Molly would react either.
</p><p>	There was a light sensation at the tips of his fingers and up through the rest of his body as he watched scar wounds through the torn fabric of his clothing heal up, and the exhaustion that leveled his head alleviated slightly. Caduceus opened his eyes from the spell and glanced around the room.
</p><p>	“Was that enough?” he asked, pushing his bangs out of his face. “That was two spells to get everyone, but I thought it was important to continue with as much strength as everyone could muster.”
</p><p>	“Thanks, Caduceus,” Fjord said, helping him off the floor. “If everyone is ready to go, we can try that next room?”
</p><p>	Vax’ildan brushed past the group and approached Mollymauk and Yasha who stood next to the large entryway. Concerned lines settled into his face. He couldn’t make out any other souls nearby, but the walls of this cursed place made even the living within this room hard to truly pinpoint. If the Raven Queen’s reach was disturbed from within, what ungodly things still haunted these halls? The half elf let his eyes drift over to the tiefling. There were too many auras conglomerating around him - of mixed virtue and power. 
	</p><p>“Are you sticking along further?” Mollymauk asked despite not looking behind him. Vax’ildan paused, the silence of his steps were infallible.
</p><p>	“I’m still attuned to my duty,” Vax’ildan replied. “But do not get comfortable with my allyship; I am simply here to assist in destroying whatever we need to to prevent this city from rising once more.”
</p><p>	“Right,” Mollymauk said, finally looking over his shoulder. He thought of the Tempest; and her approaching role in this affair. He took Yasha’s arm tightly, and waited for the rest of their friends to gather themselves up and join them. Caleb nudged himself between Vax’ildan and Mollymauk, scanning the door with an expert eye for detail amidst shoulder-checking the rogue two or three more times.
</p><p>	“Ah, excuse me,” Caleb said, taking up far more room than he usually required to pull his books from his holsters. Vax’ildan stepped to the side - a look on his face that could only be registered as vexed. A sudden bo staff knocked to his head from the side.
</p><p>	“Shit man, sorry,” Beau said, nonchalantly placing her hands on the door after pushing through the group. “Any magic detected, Caleb?”
</p><p>	“Ja, sort of,” he replied, lowering his own open palm. “But nothing so different as to the energy in every room. Divination, conjuration, even some transmutation traces.”
</p><p>	“Oh, great,” Beau nodded. “Yasha, you want to help open this? Jester?”
</p><p>	Fjord stepped up with the girls. “Hey, I can push things too, I’m strong.”
</p><p>	Jester pushed her sleeves up her arms. “Of course you are, Fjord, we would never call you weak to your face,” she said with a playful yet tired wink. 

</p><p> </p>
<p>	The hallway leading up to more doors was quite plain. Cracks along the walls were coated in a layer of ice; giving the space a veined marble-like appearance. The ground was torn up - snow covered instead of stone, with heavy footprints leading way to the next room. Flakes were kicked over spots of amber and rusty blood. The air was dry compared to the room before them where the water lay still. It burned at the nose and lungs for the two minutes of slow walking the group did - cautious of any traps or drops in the floor. It was quieter than silent in this hall; one could hear someone else swallow.
</p><p>	Mollymauk felt Vax’ildan’s hand on the small of his back as they walked. It was balled up, his knuckles against the tiefling’s spine in a way to keep track of him rather than any safety or worry measure. Mollymauk caught Caleb’s eye more than once looking over at the hand position, his brow knit forward - irked. 
</p><p>	Up ahead, Veth pressed  her hands up against the new door, padding her palms along the surface. “There’s no handles,” she said, looking back at the Nein.
</p><p>	“Does it push like the other one?” Jester asked, nudging it forward to no avail.
</p><p>	“It’s magically sealed,” Caduceus said. He leaned on his staff, studying the door a moment. Looking at Caleb, he raised a brow. “Could you dispel magic?”
</p><p>	The wizard counted through how many spells he could continue to cast before he was out of energy. “I could try,” he replied. “I may be quite useless if we’re to fight beyond these doors afterwards.”
</p><p>	“We have a deity’s hitman here, I’m sure we could keep everyone safe,” Fjord suggested, giving Caleb a pat on the back, while glancing a few times over to the half-elf.
</p><p>	Vax’ildan raised an eyebrow. “I’m afraid I’m not here for any of you,” he said from behind Mollymauk. “But if anything needs to die, then I’ll see it done.”
</p><p>	Fjord smiled through a forced grin. “See, you guys? We’re going to be just fine!”
</p><p>	“Well,” Caleb said after moving his hands in an intricate but fast motion. He pursed his lips, staring along the door’s etching while a long cloud of air blew from his nose. “That did nothing.” Annoyed disappointment leaked into his tone.
</p><p>	“Seriously?” Beau yelled, then tempered her voice. She kicked the door’s bottom, resulting in a solid boom but no nudge came to fruition. Yasha took her arm gently and pulled her back.
</p><p>	Mollymauk stood still. He crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, and crossed them again. He felt a cat slither through his legs, unnoticed to others - and Lucien formed between his friends. The Nonagon, slid his two fingers down the center of the doorway and looked over his shoulder to Mollymauk, pressing his two fingers to his eyes with a smile. Without another word, he disappeared into the doorway. 
</p><p>	The eyes marking the tiefling’s body grew hot under his clothes as he stared ahead at the door; Mollymauk didn’t quite understand how to activate them, nor what they all did. He just desired the door in front of them to open.
</p><p>	And with a sudden gain of weight, it did.
</p><p>	“I weakened it, for sure,” Beau said, shaking her boot. She cleared her throat, glancing around the hall. “That was me, right?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk shifted his weight. “Aye, good job, Beau,” he said, “Mister Caleb.” There was a pressure in his head that was different from the run of the mill headache. He could hear the distant screams of the fallen city’s people again, and flashing images of the snowy depths outside. The knuckles to his back tensed as Vax’ildan sensed the non-Moonweaver energy from him.
</p><p>	“I can tolerate the moon goddess’ decision,” the rogue whispered into his ear from behind. “But I can not excuse the betrayer gods’ influence, do you understand?”
</p><p>	The tiefling moved his head sharply, fast enough that the edge of the horned helm left a mark on the half-elf’s chin. He said nothing, but stared at Vax’ildan with indignation. Any adrenaline he had from the fight before had left his body; he didn’t give much consideration to the threats here.
</p><p> <em>“He’s afraid of me,” </em> Lucien said from beyond the door. He stood deep in the room, brushing the snow around his tail, but Mollymauk heard him directly. He looked disappointed in a way, but smug - knowing. <em>“As he should be.”</em>
</p><p>	The feeling of Molly kept to the corner of the tiefling’s mind, not as active since the tower. This space was one <em>Lucien</em> was familiar with; abilities only <em>he</em> knew of; and powerful followers of <em>his</em> past. Neither Mollymauk nor Molly treaded lightly with Lucien - his presence only grew more malevolent the deeper the Mighty Nein travelled into Aeor. Although, Mollymauk thought, something else seemed off about the spirit. He couldn’t pinpoint what.
</p><p>	The room had a larger vaulted ceiling. Perhaps the ceiling itself was more ornate and intricate than the room was. Steps down into a sunken altar, a small frozen pool reflected upward at the delicately carved beaming that wrapped around a center mechanism. The rest of the room was quite void of any furniture - have it decayed over time or just didn’t exist here at all. 
</p><p>	Jester ran her fingers over the miniscule markings along the wall, almost invisible from further away. The Nein stepped around, staggered about the room, quietly observing the space they fought so hard to reach. Mollymauk’s heels clicked softly to the stone floor at the bottom of the altar. He watched the reflection of the mechanism match up with the center of the small iced over pool.
</p><p>	“I found those footprints,” said Beau across the room. She and Yasha kept a hand on their weapons, eyeing the tracks as they maneuvered around and disappeared at multiple spots.
</p><p>	“But what was in here that they wanted?” Caduceus inferred. He stood next to Fjord at the entryway, examining the space as a whole.
</p><p>	Veth replied, but Mollymauk couldn’t hear. He looked up at the empty space between the large machinery along the ceiling; how important it looked, yet how the edges were unceremoniously pried apart.
</p><p>	<em> Snow from the outside. Familiar faces together. There’s a large bag being carried by one - a crystal? A piece. Many pieces. The Somnovum needs it to return. Return? Yes, of course, you know this. A face looks this way; Tyffial - her eyes are fully red. They’re all red. We’re ready when you are, Nonagon. We’re doing this for you. Why for me? </em>
</p><p>	The images and voices rung through his head like he was among the Tomb Takers themselves. Mollymauk blinked away the vision - returning from the outside back in the chamber. Bringing his hands to his eyes, he wiped away the flurries of snow he felt on his lashes. And his gaze fell back to the pool.
</p><p>	To the nine eyed creature that bore its red eyes upon him. The chorus of voices sheared through his head like a welcoming applause of a returned hero. Mollymauk shirked away from the reflection, stumbling back onto the steps. Vax’ildan was on him in seconds; Caleb half a step away - a calloused hand on his shoulder. In a way these voices almost felt comforting - different from the cries of the citizens of the fallen city - encouraging and cradling his mind. The eyes on his body burned hotter than before; even the two men next to him raised their hands from his person.
</p><p>	Mollymauk stared ahead to the slap of ice overlapping the pool; and to the sudden forming of Molly’s spirit hovering above it. Molly looked outraged. His coat billowed around him with an invisible draft. He summoned a scimitar - identical to the one Mollymauk recalled in dreams - beautifully golden and adorned. As if the Moonweaver’s light danced around him - Molly thrusted the spirit sword into the ice.
</p><p>	And with a sudden crack in the room - the pool’s ice coverage broke. 
Caleb turned his head to the center of the chamber and back again to Mollymauk, returning his hand to the tiefling’s shoulder, his thumb grazing his neck.
</p><p>	“Mollymauk,” he whispered, “What happened just then? What did you see?”
</p><p>	“Oh, you know,” Mollymauk breathed. “Same ol’, same old.” He pressed his hand over Caleb’s. “Whatever the Tomb Takers took from here, they’re using it to summon that… that thing.”
</p><p>	“The floating city?”
</p><p>	“With the eyes, aye. It’s to be pulled from the abyss, from the astral sea.”
</p><p>	Fjord stepped down the stairs, helping to lift the tiefling from the floor. “Then we ought to find a way out of here and get to them quickly before they do.”
</p><p>	“The green himbo is right,” Vax’ildan said, ignoring the sudden gawk from the half-orc. “I would hate to extend my stay here just to fight a betrayer god.” His eyes trailed over to Mollymauk. “And I’m sure you wouldn’t want that either.”
</p><p>	“I mean, you bake a fine cake, but if you’re still on that reaping me track, then aye, having you go away would be nice,” Mollymauk replied in earnest. He wiped an exhausted tear from his cheek. “As for a way out…”
</p><p>	The walls were dark stone - it would be hard for anyone to see any holes within the thick shadows of the corners. He pointed to a corner beyond the cracked center pool where Veth scrambled over to investigate. Her hand traced the walls up and down until her arm disappeared in the darkness. 
</p><p>	“Wow, this goes far,” she said, ducking her head under the break in the stone. “And there’s left over rope!” Her voice reverberated softly as the rest of the Nein gathered around.
</p><p>	“How nice of them to think of us,” said Beau, tucking her hands into the fur-lined pockets of her coat.
</p><p>	“I think they were just thinking of Mollymauk,” Yasha added, giving the tiefling a melancholy smile.
</p><p>	“Ah, yes, Mister Cult Leader, sir, please.” Beau gave a deep bow, gesturing to the hole. She received a grandiose eye roll as Mollymauk followed behind Veth through the small passageway. The monk jut out her hand as Vax’ildan followed suit. “Bros before hoes,” she said, cutting him off, having Mollymauk’s rear.
</p><p>	Yasha scooted quickly behind. “I’m with them.”
</p><p>	The half-elf stood still as the group hastily crawled passed him. Caduceus rested his hand on the leather and metal of the rogue’s armor.
</p><p>	“You can go before me, that’s fine,” the firbolg said.

</p><p> </p>
<p>	The gusts of wind made them all regret climbing up out of the hole in the ice. Snow was blown over itself, rolling like a hoop down a street. It was edging to the evening now; the light that they saw down below was the strongest the sun would get at midday, and any faux warmth it may have brought the group was now out of reach. 
</p><p>	“Do we keep going?” Jester asked, holding her mittens over her eyes as she looked around the white horizon. “How do we know which way they went?” 
</p><p>	“They were carrying a lot of things; they couldn’t have gotten far,” Mollymauk replied, trudging through the snow for some steps.
</p><p>	“How do you know that?”
</p><p>	He paused. “Um, I saw them.”
</p><p>	“When did you see them?” Beau pushed.
</p><p>	“Back in the chamber - listen - it doesn’t matter when I saw them - or, how I saw them! Is it not good enough that we know they can’t be that far off away from us?”
</p><p>	There was a dignified huff from the hole as the Raven Queen’s champion pushed himself up and out of the ice, his wings unfurling and settling onto the snow. He seemed unfazed by the frozen air, his dark eyes darting between the several of them. “Your cult friends are nearby, you say?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk crossed his arms. “They aren’t my friends.”
</p><p>	“I mean, one did make out with you back in town,” Jester added between her mittens.
</p><p>	Caleb looked to them both. “She did what now? You left that out before.”
</p><p>	The tiefling sighed, running his fingers under the helm along his forehead. “It doesn’t matter - it doesn’t matter.” He looked back to Vax’ildan. “Yes, the Tomb Takers should be close by. Maybe by a few miles or so, it was hard to tell.”
</p><p>	“Right,” Vax’ildan replied. “Give me a minute.” He ruffled his wings out, stretching them wide across the snow as he crouched low. With a beat - the pattern of the feathers leaving indents in the powder, the rogue launched into the air. The Mighty Nein stood where they were watching the sky as he disappeared into clouds. Caduceus soon emerged from the hole, surveying the situation he clearly missed out on.
</p><p>	It truly was a minute; the group slowly trickled towards each other to share warmth as they waited, arguing back and forth on whether or not they should rest or carry on. Should they rest and regain their spells and strength, so did the Tomb Takers. Should they forge on, they risk confrontation with the cult with unknown levels of stamina and health - they had been out of harm’s way longer than the Nein.
</p><p>	When Vax’ildan returned, he explained the Tomb Takers did indeed stop and build a small camp several miles northwest. Several people counted amongst them, although he could not discern race or weaponry.
</p><p>	“It’s amazing you could see all that through this weather,” Fjord said, quite admirably.
</p><p>	Vax’ildan shrugged, “I work for a god.”
</p><p>	Fjord shifted in his spot. “Ah! Of course, of course…” He looked at Caduceus. “When is the Wildmother going to give us some dope ass abilities?”
</p><p>	Veth tugged lightly on Caleb’s coat. “Do you have enough energy for the tower tonight? Having a nice big meal and a bath after today sounds really nice. And a big sangria with dinner.”
</p><p>	“Ja,” Caleb mumbled, still analyzing the half elf’s body language. “Though I am afraid we won’t have enough rooms,” he said louder; looking away as Vax’ildan glanced toward him.
</p><p>	“Is this that pocket dimension you all were in earlier? A tower instead of a mansion? How very wizard of you,” he replied. “No worries about a room; I don’t need to sleep.”
</p><p>	“You don’t?” Jester asked. She clung tightly to Mollymauk’s waist, her cheek on his chest.
</p><p>	“Well, I’m dead.”
</p><p>	His response was met with silence. Caleb, undisturbed, went to work on casting the tower. Jester blinked at the rogue, squishing Mollymauk’s tief tiddies against her face as she thought on the matter.
</p><p>	“Like, the way Molly is dead, but he’s not actually because he’s right here and alive and breathing and well? Or like, dead as in you’re some weird zombie and all that leather is just holding you together? We were wondering that earlier.”
</p><p>	A small puff of warm air escaped Vax’ildan’s nose with a chuckle. “Neither. I fully ascended at the behest of the Raven Queen some decades ago. Body and soul were part of my bargain with her. Not a zombie. And not like your companion, here.” He looked at Mollymauk, the sudden friendliness fading from his features. “Whose own presence is quite questionable.”
</p><p>	“I can very easily change this tower spell into one that will leave you as dust in the wind,” Caleb said from his spot in the snow. “Keep threatening our friend, I dare you.”
</p><p>	The Mighty Nein shifted their eyes and intent all to Vax’ildan. The man raised his hands, unarmed. 
</p><p>	“I am upholding my end of the bargain,” he said to the lavender tiefling. “For the safety of your friends.”
</p><p>	“Aye,” Mollymauk replied, resting his arm over Jester’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

</p><p> </p>
<p>	Dinner in the tower with an additional guest was awkward for both parties. The silence was deafening enough for the cat servants to begin playing string instruments to accompany the group who sat around - sipping at their cocoas, hot ciders, and more. Mollymauk tried not to think of the spirit of the boy who was in here, or rather in his head perhaps, just the other night. He was beyond that situation; already hearing all the shouting and crying and complaining from hours before. In his head were only his thoughts now. Thoughts that weren’t as comforting as he would like. Mollymauk did not want the Nein to fight the Tomb Takers. He didn’t want any of his friends to find themselves gravely injured at the sake of him not agreeing to Lucien’s plans. That very Lucien sat in his spirit-cat form amongst the army of tower cats - sitting quietly, staring back at him with a flick to his tail. Mollymauk looked down to his feet at the peacock laying across his boots. Then he looked to his friends; Beau leaning back and forth from Yasha to Jester, whispering between each other; Fjord angled himself towards their conversation, his elbow propped on the table; Mr. Clay kept Vax’ildan’s glare preoccupied, discussing death and a passive aggressive argument on Mollymauk’s case; Veth had set a small vial of ink on the table between her drinks and wrote to her husband whom Mollymauk hadn’t the pleasure of meeting yet.
</p><p>	The tiefling felt a light tap of a pinkie finger to his forearm. Caleb bent over to him to whisper in his ear. Mollymauk could feel the long whiskers of the wizard’s beard against his neck.
</p><p>	“I was thinking perhaps it wouldn’t be the best idea for you to be alone tonight,” Caleb said, not even sparing a glance towards the rogue.
</p><p>	The peacock’s ethereal feathers drifted up Mollymauk’s leg, slowly expanding under the table for only him to feel.
</p><p>	“Ah,” he replied, bringing his hot chocolate to his lips. He took a thoughtful sip and set it back down. “That’s very considerate of you, Mister Caleb,” tilting his head to whisper back. He acknowledged the heavy sigh that warmed his cheek with a quick smirk. “Honestly,” Mollymauk added, “I would very much like not to be alone. In person or in my thoughts, truly.”
</p><p>	Caleb nodded, “Ja, well. Einmal est keinmal, nein?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk’s lashes lowered as he looked at the human’s lips, then back up to his face. “Du bist die Ruh,” he said in Zemnian. Caleb blinked a blush to his face and leaned back.
</p><p>	“I never taught you that,” he said, his voice hardly a whisper as he leaned back in.
</p><p>	“You sang it in your sleep the first night I spent in the tower. I looked it up in the library,” Mollymauk replied. “It sounded better when you said it, though. A voice like music on my skin.”
</p><p>	The two were grateful the others were preoccupied in their own small worlds. Caleb sat back in his chair and took a quaff of his cider. He took note of all the eyes on Mollymauk’s open skin - from the two on his hand, and two along his neck that he could see. He didn’t like them; he didn’t like the way they were seared into the skin like they were brands instead of tattoos. He did not like that every night in Eisselcross was full of anxiety, nor did he like that Mollymauk was endangered simply by existing in this space. Caleb scratched his arm in thought; he would be in a similar position should they return to the Cerberus Assembly in Rexxentrum. They differed on their courage to confront their pasts.
</p><p>	“I suppose you may stay in the library,” Caleb spoke up - looking to Vax’ildan. “There are cushioned seats and a fire. You may read for the night.”
</p><p>	There was a look of surprise on the half elf’s face before he nodded. “That’s very kind of you.” 
</p><p>	“Ja.” Caleb went back to letting his drink glide to the back of his throat. It was Caduceus who finally encouraged everyone to get to sleep - the sooner they all had their rest, the sooner they could head out and take care of the situation at hand. 
</p><p>	That night, Mollymauk found he could not sleep. 
</p><p>	Laying in his bed, even with Caleb on the fur rugged floor next to him - the settled arrangement after several minutes of arguing about whether or not he should sleep next to Mollymauk or just within the apartment - the tiefling stared up at the ceiling for hours with no sleep coming to him. Even with his eyes closed he saw everything, he heard everything - the fire crackling down in the library, the turn of every page the Raven Queen’s champion touched, Beau’s obnoxious snores whenever she turned in her bed… He could hear his blood pumping through his body. 
</p><p>	Some part of him remembered when Otis sliced his cheek for his strange concoction back in Shady Creek Run; the vial of vile liquid he forced down his throat. Mollymauk touched his cheek. What was the role of the Nonagon? What was Lucien’s role amidst his cult to bring back this abyssal city? They needed those large crystals to assist in summoning the atrocity, sure, but there was more to it - certainly.
</p><p>	Flashes of a book flipped through his distant memory. Words to gibberish, scratches with no meaning, and eyes - the eyes. Eyes in the void that spoke to him - welcoming and trusting - or were they?
</p><p>	<em>I came from nothing.</em>
</p><p>	Lucien was there in his memory; alone.
</p><p>	<em>I worked in the Claret Order and I was good at it; I found the book; they chose me. The Somnovum wanted me to do it.</em>
</p><p>	Do what, Mollymauk pried, digging deeper into the back of his mind. 
</p><p>	<em>To help them return, of course. I showed the others their power - shared their knowledge; everyone else was too afraid to bring back the true wisdom of this world, but not me. I wasn’t going to remain a nothing. When I was betrayed, I was shattered to the abyss. You and I - even that fool who found the body before, I - we - are all just pieces of the glass of the Nonagon’s soul. I know I was chosen because even after death - all their marks remained on this body; all of them. Not a single one retracted their deal from me. </em>
</p><p>	A deal? What deal? What have you done, Lucien? 
</p><p>	Mollymauk sat up in his bed, his hands over his chest, a finger absently tracing over his silver thread. He looked ahead at the wall - at the dark space that Lucien stood in, the eyes across his body glowing in the void.
	
</p><p> </p>
<p>The strands of the rug itched Caleb’s nose. He rubbed at his face once, then twice as it persisted. Opening his eyes, he pulled a small peacock feather from where his head lay and twisted it in his fingers. Confusion struck his face. As did the Dark Speech whispers within the room. The wizard shot up to his feet, looking at Mollymauk sitting up on his pillows, an expression eerily similar to the one he had that morning. Caleb pressed his palms over the tiefling’s cheeks, tilting his head towards him.
</p><p>	“Mollymauk?” he said, watching his eyes. They were locked on a place on the wall behind them - the mirror. Caleb made eye-contact with Mollymauk in the reflection despite shifting the tiefling’s face in his hands. He turned back to his friend. “Mollymauk, can you hear me?”

</p><p> </p>
<p>Lucien crossed his arms. Then uncrossed them. Then crossed them again. He looked at Mollymauk angrily, then with disdain. 
</p><p>	<em>The Nonagon is a vessel. I am to be the holder of the Somnovum’s knowledge; of their power. We will summon them into me. </em>
</p><p>	Mollymauk shook his head. That did not sound right. It did not sound rational.
</p><p><em>I will not be a </em> nothing <em> in this stupid world that has done</em> nothing <em>for me! </em>
	
</p><p> </p>
<p>	The foreign whispers escaping Mollymauk’s throat returned again as Caleb grew more and more apprehensive. “Bitte bleib bei mir, Mollymauk,” he breathed, moving his thumbs from below the eyes to the center of the forehead. 

</p><p> </p>
<p>	You’re going to kill us all, Mollymauk thought to the cult leader - whose presence only sent the space around them into a sense of danger.
</p><p>	<em>I will be beyond death. Beyond even you who thinks he belongs in this body. I am the owner; you are just inhabiting the main controls. You know you aren’t the first; you know how easy I can shift a gear. </em>
</p><p>	The memory groaned. The pages in the book flipped faster, with a frenzy of nonsensical writing taking up the pages until each paper was filled black with ink. The eyes appeared behind Lucien, one after another, lighting up the room in increasingly darker shades of red.
</p><p>	Mollymauk shouted. It was all a trick, he felt it. He felt it in his soul that this deal Lucien made for them, this one sided ploy, was going to rip all three of them from the body.

</p><p> </p>
<p>	Caleb’s brow twitched as his friend shouted in his grasp. He focused quickly on his spell, dispelling once more this disattaching hold on Mollymauk. The locked eyes on the mirror shifted suddenly to him - a heavy breath in as the tiefling looked from one soft blue eye to the other. Mollymauk brought his knees up from under the covers, curled up to his side while he pressed his hands to the rough, warm ones holding his head up. Small tufts of blooming angelica sprouted quickly around his horns - the traces of Caleb’s magic hovering at the tiny herbs.
</p><p>	“Can you hear me?” Caleb asked again, his body frozen in place.
</p><p>	Mollymauk leaned forward, bumping his forehead against the human’s as the fingers drifted over his temples. “Aye,” he mouthed. He kept his hands over Caleb’s. They felt real; a different pulse on his skin. He sniffed. “Fuck, I can’t do this, Caleb. I can’t keep doing this.”
</p><p>	Caleb watched him press his eyes shut, brows taught beneath his fingers. The wizard clicked his jaw, only pressing his nose to Mollymauk’s - keeping his thumbs rubbing softly at the soft hairs above the tiefling’s ears.
</p><p>	“I haven’t slept at all,” Mollymauk whimpered, shaking his head. “I haven’t slept soundly in days. I’m losing my mind, Caleb. I’m losing it. And I’m going to lose my body too. I’m going to lose it all and I had no say in the matter.”
</p><p>	“You aren’t going to lose it all,” Caleb replied, nudging his friend to look at him. “You listen here, Mollymauk, I won’t allow it.” He referred to the rest of the tower. “Our friends won’t allow it.”
</p><p>	“If Vax’ildan doesn’t kill me, Lucien surely is - and he’s going to take the entire world along with him,” he said, finally looking up, “He’s so angry; and he’s so lonel-”
</p><p>	There was a moment of sturdiness, of grounding, that Mollymauk felt beneath him before it was all gone in an instant. The bedroom, and all its surrounding chambers, the walls and the floors and the ceilings - disappeared. And the two of them, along with the rest of the Nein and their guest were flung out into the snow, tumbling and waking up with a shock. Mollymauk felt his eye marking along his spine burn hotly as he and Caleb rolled over each other in the snow. The sky was still dark, a hazy purple shade by the horizon, an hour or two before dawn. 
</p><p>	Caleb picked himself up, touching a small scratch on his cheek from Mollymauk’s horn. He turned in a quick circle, trying to piece together what happened to the tower when it had hours left in its durability. His hands found their way digging into his hair.
</p><p>	A shadow blurred passed him, knocking a rising Mollymauk back into the snow face down. Vax’ildan stepped over the eye on the base of his neck. “What have you done?” he cursed. “I’ve warned you to cease this evil magic!”
</p><p>	Yasha and Beau were quick to plow into the rogue, tackling him to the snow a few feet away. Their shouting lost to the wind. Caleb and Veth were by Mollymauk’s side in a minute, picking him up from the snow indentation he left. The anguish on his face was obvious. The lavender tips of his fingers had turned magenta in the cold as he covered the back of his neck with his hands.
</p><p>	“I didn’t - I didn’t <em>mean</em> to do that. It wasn’t me, it…” His eyes searched his friends’ faces - their worry, their fatigue. He was losing control - Lucien was right, it was hardly Mollymauk in the driver’s seat - one hand on the reins. He felt the eye move along his skin. “I <em> am</em> a monster,” he said to himself, continuing to cover the eye as it moved.
</p><p>He should have stayed in the ground.
 </p><p>The grip to his shirt behind him was instantaneous as he felt his feet leave the cold mound of snow. His mind registered Vax’ildan was still underneath Beau and Yasha, throwing fists and condemnations; he registered the slow realization on the other’s faces; he registered the high-pitched cackle of Otis as the Profane Soul bloodhunter tore him from the pile of the Mighty Nein and their belongings.
</p><p>To the others, Mollymauk simply vanished the moment any saw the shorter creature grab him. Jester ran forward, falling to her knees at the spot they were. 
</p><p>“Molly?” she cried, the wind carrying her voice out. <em>“Molly!”</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I wrote this chapter, again, while at work. You know you write a lot of angst when surrounded by middle schoolers. They do a lot of online work so I have to do something to make the time go by. </p>
<p>And oh man do I love Widomauk. those dumb lads. <br/>But yeah!! A more painful cliffhanger! We love those. Hoping to have next chapter up sometime in late April; probably when the kids go on break and I can avoid my second job.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Nonagon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'll start off with a little Content Warning. There's some... stuff in this chapter, like gaslighting, and some emotional manipulation. I was writing this at work when I was covering an 8th grade class all week so the angsty energy they were giving off bled into this piece.<br/>I can't believe we're, after this chapter, one chapter away from finishing this trilogy. After the last ep of Critical Role (as of April 13th when I'm typing this), I'm still canon diverging in the same location, it's stressing me out. So before Lucien does anything In Game, I'm throwing my version on AO3 first. And I'll admit, I come up with what happens on the spot - I have very little planning for plot, it sort of just happens naturally. So I had an idea for an ending to this story in multiple different ways... and it's changing again. Ahaa<br/>Anyway, I'll let you guys get to the chapter, I'll talk to you at the end.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> Mollymauk was disposed of briefly - his ponytail hardly brushing the icy floor before he felt Otis’ fist grab his hair by the roots again. He was unarmed, again, caught so off guard when the tower disappeared that no one had grabbed their weapons, he hadn’t picked up his own winter gear. Despite it all, Mollymauk didn’t feel much of anything. The floor he was gazing at was intricate under its winter coverage. Tiny etchings created an illusion of something much more massive as the piece curved and twisted around the negative space, close together, far apart.
</p><p>	As the tiefling twitched when Otis’ fingers grazed over the eye on the back of his neck, he said, “Enough. Drop me.” 
</p><p>	He heard Otis say it too; in something akin to Mollymauk’s own voice. The tiefling thumped the half foot to the frozen ground. Immediately pushing himself to his elbows, he could see Otis smiling behind him, watching every movement, every goosebump that rose on his lavender skin. 
</p><p>	“It’s so much more interesting to see them all on you,” Otis said, voice hardly above a whisper. “I bet you are just as pleased to be so close to completing our duty, dear Nonagon.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk looked over his shoulder, eyebrows pulled taut. There were waves of voices. Rippling in like a tide, loud in his ears, deafening, then retreating, quiet murmurs, reverberating around his head like the vibrations in the large chamber they were in.
</p><p>	“Where are we?” he asked, slow to get to his feet. His tail arched out to balance his weight for him. Their breath came out in dense clouds of warm air, only to disappear in the cold centimeters from their faces.
</p><p>	“By Aeor, of course,” Otis replied. “Rushed right by its current dwellers I may add…” He scratched his nose. “So that we may hear our friends arrive should they not watch their step.”
</p><p>	“They have the crystals…” Mollymauk said, clenching his fists. The air pulled the warmth from his skin; frost formed along his eyelashes.
</p><p>	“Yes, yes, I do not stop them from coming, no. What they have with them is essential to our task,” he said, “I have no quarrel with the lot of them, Nonagon. It is just Cree who has delayed you and your destiny.”
</p><p>	“It’s not my destiny -”
</p><p>	The wave of cries washed over him again, causing the eyes along his body to glow hot and arduous. Mollymauk thought of his friends’ embraces - warm and comforting - their whispers and laughs to drown out the bitterness of the strangers’ wails. He clapped his hands over his ears. Amidst the memories of his friends’ leaked the soft, firm voices of the Somnovum soothing the bubbling anxiety in his chest. Like a hand of a loving parent, caressing and succoring, the nine tones pulled at his head. 
</p><p>	Mollymauk blinked hard. He shook his head and lowered his body to his knees. Through the flakes of snow covering his eyes he could see Otis standing over him, leaning over him, eyes unyielding. 
</p><p>	“Get up, Nonagon,” he breathed.
</p><p>	Within that moment, Mollymauk felt very small. Shrunk back to the recesses of his mind, the druidic bloodhunter simply stood in the dark. He shivered; the cold was unregistrable through his panic. His stomach cramped and twisted, his eyelids felt so heavy. The light, tingling coos of the nine overtook the grounding of the Nein in the space around him. 
</p><p>
  <em> Fear not.
</em>
</p>
<p></p><div><p><em>Welcome.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p> <em> We are not strangers to you. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>You will be taken care of.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em> Welcome. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>You will not feel so empty anymore.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>Welcome us. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em> Do not be afraid.<br/>
</em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>Just let go of your equivocations. </em></p><p>Mollymauk felt the ebb and flow of their desires tug at his shoulders as he sidestepped  in the tilting ship of his consciousness. No, he thought, it’s all a lie; all you do is lie. 
</p><p> <em>	We would not lie to you.
</em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>No.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>	No. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>			We would not lie to our chosen one.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>We want you safe.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>		We will keep you safe.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p>		<em>	Aren’t you tired? </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>							Yes.<br/>
</em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>	You can sleep soundly. </em><br/>
He rocked back on his heels, holding himself as his blinking slowed. He felt weightless. I can’t sleep, he thought, my friends will be in danger; I can’t leave them.</p><p> <em>	There is no danger.
</em></p><p></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>		No.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p>	<em>			No danger. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>We can bring you to your friends.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>	Yes. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>				You can see there is no danger.</em></p>
<p></p><div><p>	<em>	You can rest. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p>
<p></p><div><p><em>						We will be watchful of your friends.<br/>
</em></p>
<p></p><div><p> <em>Let yourself fall. </em></p><p>	There he was in the tower again. Face in-between the rough fingers of his Caleb at the edge of his bed. He was so warm. The blankets were soft between his toes, scrunched up as the wizard kissed him tenderly, as if that was all they were doing all evening. He could hear the playing of Yasha’s harp from below in the library, followed by the clapping and laughter of Jester. He could imagine Beau sitting by the aasimar’s feet, chin propped up on Yasha’s thigh as she played. The smell of Caduceus’ freshly brewed tea wafted through the rooms by way of the cat doors. Fjord’s voice floated down outside of the apartment, discussing with Veth how bad an idea it was to attach any chemical to her bolts without testing what they did first. How blissful he felt. He curled his tail around Caleb’s leg, feeling him, tasting him. It was exactly how he thought the sensation would be. The shaking in his chest was from yearning, of course. He was safe here, in his room with his human; the one who told him who he was from the beginning.
</p><p>“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Caleb said, running his thumb over Mollymauk’s lips.
</p><p>Mollymauk closed his eyes, letting the shiver run down his spine. “Just how glad I am for this nightmare to be over,” he whispered.
</p><p>The human slowly padded his hands down the tiefling’s rib cage, a finger tracing lightly over the pierced nipple causing the tiefling to raise his shoulders, tickled with a small gasp. “Now,” he said, ducking his head under Mollymauk’s chin, his teeth grazing Mollymauk’s collarbone, “tell me what you’re feeling.”
</p><p>And Mollymauk fell.

</p><p> </p><p>“Get <em> up</em>, Nonag-ah!” Otis was cut off as the tiefling’s hand shot up to grab his throat.
</p><p>“Otis Brunkel, my dear genderfluid friend. Talk down to me again and your fluids will be scattered across the floor,” Lucien said, standing up. Otis’ feet lifted from the ice, swaying nervously. 
</p><p>Otis laughed, choking. “There you are. You weren’t acting like your usual self, sir.”
</p><p>A smile flitted across Lucien’s face. “Aye,” he said, lowering the bloodhunter back down, discarding him like an empty sack of flour. “And my patience has been drained. Prepare the altar for when the others arrive. We’re doing this today.”

</p><p> </p><p>	“Enough!” Vax’ildan grunted, throwing the two women off of him. “How dare you get in the way of our deal? Friend or not, that is not your call to make!”
</p><p>	“Of course it’s our fucking call when you attack our friend!” Beau retorted. “He’s <em>our</em> dumbass, his deal with you doesn’t matter.” She kicked more snow at him, getting to her feet. The wind nipped at her face as she searched for her clothing along the ground - still keeping a fighting stance towards the dark rogue. Her eye caught the others - standing still, staring blankly ahead. Jester was kneeling on the ground - her face ashened.
</p><p>	“Where is he?” Vax’ildan said, pushing passed the group. His wings unfurled in the wind. The feeling of malicious energy had overtaken the air. “I said where is he?”
</p><p>	“He was right here,” Jester cried, digging her hands into the snow.
</p><p>	Yasha ran over. She turned in a circle, looking out at the glaciers around them. “Mollymauk!” she yelled, her voice booming across the ice. The echo bounced back to her with no response.
</p><p>	Caleb pulled at the roots of his hair; his breath hitched in his throat. “He was talking about Lucien,” he said, only loud enough where a few of them nearby could hear. “He was scared that he was losing control - that…” He lowered his hands to clasp them by his lips, breathing deeply into his knuckles. “Gods, I told him we would protect him. Scheiße... “ His heart kicked up, and he threw a flame into the ground. “FUCK!” 
</p><p>	The breeze carried their voices away, leaving the eight of them staring amongst themselves. Caduceus, clicking together his armor, walked silently along the straight path to where Jester knelt, and continued past her, eyeing the snow as he went. The others collectively watched him. The firbolg eyed the push of the snow onward, something he would see when Fjord misty stepped over movable ground; and a single drop of blood, miniscule and dusted over on the ground, splattered in motion.
</p><p>	“Well,” Caduceus said, circling the blood with his finger. “It doesn’t take a commune to know what kind of people use blood to activate abilities.”
</p><p>	“He was kidnapped?” Jester said, wiping her face with her elbow. “Right in front of us? How could none of us see?”
</p><p>	“Molly talked about Otis disappearing from in front of him before,” Beau added, pulling the blue tiefling up. “He’s been anxious about that bastard before.”
</p><p>	Fjord buckled his gear around his waist. “So this Otis fellow took him to the others? Then he’s just a few miles ahead of us.”
</p><p>	“No,” Jester said, shaking her head. “I heard them talking about how Otis didn’t trust Cree and the others much. I don’t think he would bring Molly there to them, even if they used to work together.”
</p><p>	Vax’ildan stretched out his wings, digging his heels deep into the ground. “We shall see,” he said, shooting into the air. Yasha, with her coat hardly on, grunted.
</p><p>	“Not without me,” she said, and two large white-feathered wings sprouted from her back. She launched right after him, the black and white dots ascending quickly into the sky.
</p><p>	There was a sturdy minute of rushing to collect the remaining items on the ground; angry and frustrated faces avoiding further talk as they forced the tiredness from their heads. Their winter clothes didn’t keep them as warm as they did before. They staggered onward, towards the location they knew the Tomb Takers had camped just hours earlier. 
</p><p>	Those in the sky, both Vax’ildan and Yasha, streamlined through the heavy morning winds. The half-elf had not seen the woman’s wings before; in any other circumstance, perhaps he would have enjoyed a race. He could see the strain on her face - the furrowed brow and set grimace she expressed on the matter. Vax’ildan set his jaw; duty was not an easy feat, but a necessary one. He could feel the rumbling in the clouds around them despite the lack of heat to cause any thunderstorm. 
</p><p>	Clearly, he thought, there are many gods in play.
</p><p>	Motion down below, the dying embers of a fire not long snuffed behind them, gave away the hurrying group of cultists. The two winged warriors tucked their feathers in, diving sharply towards them. 
	
</p><p> </p><p>Cree had known they were being followed even before her Lucien contacted her a few times. It was encouraging to know he was coming to the understanding of his position again, ever since they worked together last. His leave with the obtuse adventuring party was a setback, but she did what she could to keep their mission on task afterwards. If Lucien needed time to find himself, she would let him do it. What mattered was now - fulfilling destiny and making history for their leader. Tyffial was on her toes, quick to take light steps over the snow while Zoran plowed through it as if he were a warhorse. Their retinue of human petty thieves scattered behind, bundled tightly, complaining quietly amongst themselves. Cree watched them look up, squinting, confused and startled. She followed their gaze.
</p><p>	She recognized one, the woman, as the two landed in front of the group. They looked tense, the aasimar practically on the verge of tears. Cree flicked her tail, knowing Tyffial was watching. The elf stepped precariously off to the side as the Tomb Takers and these strangers sized each other up.
</p><p>	“Can we help you?” Cree asked, taking the dark one’s attention away from her ally. She stood next to Zoran, crossing her arms, prepping spells in case this turned awry. The half-elven man stepped forward. The entourage all placed their hands on their weaponry, but the man was unfazed.
</p><p>	“Is he among you? The tiefling?” Vax’ildan asked, making eye contact with every individual standing there. “Hiding, perhaps.”
</p><p>	Cree scoffed. “If the Nonagon were with us, he would have no need to hide.” She looked down at him plainly. “He could extinguish you where you stand.”
</p><p>	There was a twitch to the rogue’s brow that Cree caught. Ah, she thought, he already has. A grin pulled at her lips.
</p><p>	“He’s only a representative of the Somnovum now; hardly a student and look at what he could do to you who holds himself so high and mighty,” she said. Her hand drifted over to the vial of Lucien’s blood she kept in her necklace. It was warm in her palm, boiling even. She smiled. “No, he is not with us here. But he is where he needs to be and we are to join him. Follow us, if you so please.”
</p><p>	Zoran beside her grumbled a laugh. “What a last sight to see,” he said, brushing past the barbarian. Tyffial was already gone from the group.
</p><p>	“Would Otis hurt him here?” Yasha asked, eyeing the goliath man. She looked back to Cree. “He just took him moments ago, but he’s been aggressive since Shady Creek.”
</p><p>	Cree signaled the humans to follow after Zoran while she still looked on the silenced half-elf with indifference. “Otis is a nuisance,” she said, “but if the Nonagon is with Aeor, then he would hardly be an issue to dispose of if Lucien demanded it so.”
</p><p>	A sudden click in the back of the Tomb Takers minds stopped them from moving momentarily.
</p><p>	<em> “Oh, my friends, if you wouldn’t mind bringing our components with all due haste, we may get this show on the road.” </em>

</p><p> </p><p>	Yasha noted the flash of red in the tabaxi’s eyes; her hand gripping Vax’ildan’s forearm as she felt his rage boiling. “Take us to him then,” she said to Cree. “We’ll help you through whatever obstacle gets in the way.” 
</p><p>	Vax’ildan threw a glare over his shoulder to her, but Yasha remained firm. When Cree blinked and the red glow dissipated, she looked to them and nodded.
</p><p>	“To Aeor then,” Cree said.
</p><p>	Yasha set her jaw. “To Aeor.”

</p><p> </p><p>	Explaining anything to the Mighty Nein was inconsequential as the group would have followed the Tomb Takers to Mollymauk regardless. Yasha had kept her hand on Vax’ildan’s arm, soon to be joined by Beau on the other side. They shared a look as the Raven Queen’s champion pushed on. The lines in Vax’ildan’s face were deep and aged him years. Jester kept her head down, holding her Traveler pendant close to her chest as she anxiously rubbed her thumbs over the design. The sun was above the horizon now, casting long shadows like rivers of black ice. They kept the cult within sight, following a few dozen yards behind. Caleb flipped through his spellbook, eyes tearing through the notes for ideas and inspiration, playing out as many scenarios as he could think of in his head - and he thought of many. 
</p><p>	“Are we coming up with a game plan?” Veth asked, glancing between the silent group. “Or are we rushing in and winging it? I can work with either, but just so we’re on the same page…” The halfling smacked Fjord’s thigh a few times. “You’re mediocre at rallying the team, Fjord, what’s the plan?”
</p><p>	Fjord raked his fingers through his beard. “Gee,” he said, letting the slight towards his leadership skills slide. “I mean, I’m not sure if all of us are at our best right now. Letting the Tomb Takers take the brunt of anything we may face would be smart, but we can’t make it obvious that we’re half-assing in the deal that Yasha made.”
</p><p>	“Is he going to be okay?” Jester asked aloud. “Molly’s already been through so much here, what if he isn’t himself?” Her voice hitched; her hands fiddled with her pendant some more. “He doesn’t have any of his swords or his helm or his coat…”
</p><p>	“He has his druid spells; and whatever his blood magic can do,” Caduceus offered, but his own doubt and discomfort had settled in. “I had dreams something like this would happen.”
</p><p>	“Dreams?” Fjord said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
</p><p>	“It doesn’t matter now,” Caduceus replied, looking to the ground. “It was before I even knew any of you. Can’t do anything about the dream, but we can do something for our friend now.”
</p><p>	Vax’ildan huffed, shaking his head. “I knew this would happen,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let you all delay me from executing -”
</p><p>	“Stop,” Beau said.
</p><p>	“-my mission.” 
</p><p>	“Your mission is just murder,” Yasha said, keeping her eyes on the group in front of them. “Mollymauk has done nothing wrong.”
</p><p>	“But he has. He should not be walking the earth as he is - the Moonweaver erred when she decided that the soul claimed by the betrayer gods should act for her. Their hold is too strong; your friend, I’m sorry, is past being saved from this evil.”
</p><p>	Yasha gripped his arm tighter. “No one is past being saved,” she countered. “And we won’t abandon him.”
</p><p>	Beau kept quiet, listening, but thinking of the warnings of Ioun about the betrayer gods. She knew which gods fought in the war that brought Aeor crashing down; she knew the Moonweaver was a part of the pantheon - that this goddess was there when the betrayer gods were locked away. Now both had a hand in play with Mollymauk. It was bad. It was very likely  going to be a shitshow. Beau glanced at Yasha - her determination for redemption, for protecting her friends was set on her face.
</p><p>	Glaciers approached around them, taller and wider. Mountains of snow and ice layered atop of another loomed above. The Tomb Takers stopped at the base of one rocky wall - a ledge dropped further down, deeper than the Nein had been before - the cold air brushed upwards, pushing their hair and coats backward. Veth carefully peaked downward.
</p><p>	“That’s a big drop. Are we climbing?” she asked, looking between the two conversing parties.
</p><p>	Cree sauntered over to a tied rope left behind by Tyffial. “Obviously,” she replied. 
</p><p>	“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” Fjord said, digging his heel into the ground. There was less snow by the drop - but the ground was still frozen. The ground, seemingly, dug back at him. “What…?”
</p><p>	Several piles of snow by the outskirts of the crevice rumbled. Caleb grabbed Jester to prevent her from toppling over as three giants broke out of the ice. They loomed three times the size of Yasha and Zoran, cold air leaking from their noses. 
</p><p>	“Aw man,” Beau exclaimed, pulling her bo staff from behind her. “What the fuck.”

</p><p> </p><p>	Lucien stood in the middle of a room just feeling the floor beneath his feet. Sure, the room was a focal point within the Cognoza Ward, with its otherworldly writing along the stone and glowing walls of blues and greens, but for the moment, the tiefling just lived. It was fucking cold. He laughed to himself, staring at the darkening color to his fingers and toes. The tattoos along his arm and chest were horridly colorful; matching the obnoxious and stupid personality that came after him. Lucien felt along his horns - from when the druid one popped out of the ground with almost nothing, they had grown up and over the top of his head much like an arch; given another year and they would be wrapped around his ears once more.
</p><p>	Or, given the power he would gain, he could change his appearance to whatever he wanted. 
</p><p>	He watched Tyffial set the crystals as Otis scurried after her, yammering some shortsighted nonsense. Perhaps he’d dispose of the short one when all was said and done; thankful that Otis brought his mind back from the abyss, regrettable that he also damaged his body and that he would have to die. Lucien pulled a coat Tyffial brought him over his shoulders. It didn’t do much to add warmth at this point, but the wool and leather gave a pleasant crinkling sound when he bent his elbow.
</p><p>	A flash of blues and greens mixed out of the lights on the walls. Lucien narrowed his eyes, a snarl forming when a ghostly figure of a peacock ambled by. It looked at him, its feathers flat against the floor. 
</p><p>	“I will not acknowledge you,” Lucien uttered, turning around. He pulled out a book; one with the philosopher’s writing and experience with the Somnovum within. He buried himself in it again, letting the pages fill his mind. He would not give any notice to the spirit - nor to its annoying honking as it got closer, feathers springing up in agitation. No, Lucien would just listen to the words of the Somnovum.
</p><p>	<em> Honk. </em>
</p><p>	And their unlimited knowledge.
</p><p>	<em> Hoooonk. </em>
</p><p>	And the visions they showed of a better world once they return to this plane. They were unfairly treated - locked away - and Lucien would be their redeemer.
</p><p>	 <strong> Honk. </strong> 
</p><p>	“For fuck’s sake, shut up you little ingrate,” Lucien spat, kicking his leg out at the spirit. “Can’t you see I’m doing this to make the world better?” He shuffled through the apparition toward his compatriots. “Everything prepared?”
</p><p>	Tyffial tucked her hair behind her ear, blowing a deep breath out of her mouth. “Yes, for the most part. Just waiting on Cree and Zoran to back you up if anything tries to interfere with the ritual.”
</p><p>	Otis grunted. Lucien eyed the fisted hands and bared teeth from his spot as the eye on his neck focused in. The tiefling gave Tyffial a smile, and with a quirk of his head, said to Otis, “We would be very displeased with you, Otis, if you attempt any disruption to our party. I would personally consider it a betrayal.” He looked over his shoulder, his smile still plain. “And I will kill you myself.”
</p><p>	Lucien looked off and blinked, calling to his vision the world that Cree and Zoran saw. He could feel Tyffial’s hand on his own, but he swatted it away. 
</p><p>	“It appears our friends brought along my fragment’s people as well,” he said, “How exciting.” He was less than happy.
	
</p><p> </p><p>	“I can’t believe they pulled what we were going to do,” Beau complained as the Nein quickly got their barings again to follow the Tomb Takers down the chasm and into the deep passageways. The monk lept, falling past her friends and landed on the ice with a gentle but sturdy thud. “They were only a few minutes before us, we can’t be far behind. Fuck, wow, it’s freezing.”
</p><p>	Jester shimmied down the rope and hand-climbed the rest to the ground to join her, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “It is cold,” she replied quietly. “Should we just pick a direction or wait for Veth to run ahead?”
</p><p>	“I don’t think waiting for anything is a good idea, Jess, I’ll do it.” Beau squeezed her shoulder, pulled her goggles on over her eyes, and ran forward to spot where the collective footprints led. The amount of hallways only increased - with corridors breaking off and crumbled ceilings blocking other ways. There were signs, with writing of old directing passerbyers of where wards and locations were of the city. Beauregard felt Frumpkin by her ankles, and within a few moments, the rest of the Nein followed. They ran through the maze of pulsing stone, around mold and leaking cracks in the walls, following the small indentations in the dirt and ice in these hallways that would eventually open up to an expansive cavern. Its expanses went beyond what any of them could see as they slowed their run to a hesitant and wary walk. Houses were here - some partially fallen in - but the majority actually remained standing, to the surprise of the party. It was as if the ward was preserved shy of perfect.
</p><p>	But then they noticed the bodies. Or rather, the skeletons. Lining the streets and draped out of broken doors of houses - skeletal remains of all shapes and sizes.
</p><p>	“Gods,” Caduceus mumbled, focusing to check to see if any undead were awaiting visitors.
</p><p>	“Actually, it was the gods who did this to them.” A voice steadily said, followed by the silent footsteps out of one of the larger buildings ahead of them. The tiefling pressed his palms together, stretching out his fingers. “The gods do a lot to ruin lives.”
</p><p>	“Mollymauk?” Caleb said, lighting up the room with glowing blue globules. He squinted at the tiefling, the different way his shoulders were set, the evened weight on his legs, and the set furrow of the brow. Caleb clenched his hands. “Lucien.”
</p><p>	Lucien snapped his fingers, pointing at him, his face breaking into a smile. “How sweet our local wizard remembered! I am honored.” His eyes shifted over to Vax’ildan, whose daggers now turned in his hands. “Your deity wasn’t involved, but,” he said, hardly giving the half-elf a once over, “you’re going to be annoying.” 
</p><p>	“Where’s Molly?” Jester shouted, balling her hands up.
</p><p>	Lucien placed a finger to his lips. He slowly turned on his heel, sauntering back to the door he came out of. “He’s as he was before - dead, of course.”
</p><p>	Caleb shouted, a ball of fire igniting in his hands as his body shook with rage. He threw the flame towards him, perhaps regretting it as it left his fingertips. Lucien looked towards it, huffing indignantly as the spell evaporated in front of him, leaving the Mighty Nein standing there stunned, even the Raven Queen’s champion paused his attacking launch. Fjord twitched his fingers, hoping to summon his blade, yet nothing apparated.
</p><p>	Beau did not hesitate in her attack, propelling herself forward, she was in front of Lucien in the blink of an eye. She tumbled right through him as he stepped through the Ethereal plane, his smile only growing.
</p><p>	“It’s cute,” he said, “your sudden desire to obliterate my body. Would be a shame if your friend were only sleeping.” He glanced at every one of them. “I am quite busy though, so if you don’t mind. Feel free to tour Aeor, it is such a lovely place.”
</p><p>	He left them in the open space of the cavern, ducking back into the ward’s temple, the crystals lit up the room, his shadow casting in several directions up the walls. He slid the coat off, disposing it to the side of the ritual floor. 
</p><p>	The Mighty Nein stormed in after him, meeting the drawn faces and weapons of the Tomb Takers head on. 

</p><p> </p><p>	Mollymauk laughed as Jester plopped a pile of bubbles on his head as he sunk deeper into the massive bubble bath in his tower room. Cats poured in from their tunnels with plates of food balanced on their backs, bringing his friends their brunch as they sat around the bedroom, chatting idly. The incense burning next to the tub smelled exactly how he remembered it in Nicodranas.
</p><p>	“How should I do your hair, Molly?” Jester asked. She sat behind him, her legs dipping into the water as she balanced on the edge. Mollymauk’s head rested between her knees. “I can curl it! How cute would that be?”
</p><p>	“That sounds lovely,” he replied, letting her fingers dig through the wet strands.
</p><p>	“Are you going to add more flowers in?” said Yasha, leaning against the tub. “You have sweet peas budding there.” Her chuckle was warm, as was her hand as she reached up to dip her hand in the water. Mollymauk finangled his hand into hers.
</p><p>	“I’m just having a really good day. I don’t remember having all of us together like this, just enjoying each other’s company; eating a damn good crepe,” he said, plucking a piece covered in cinnamon and sugar from the table to his other side and plopping it in his mouth.
</p><p>	Yasha smiled, glancing up to Jester. “We’re having a good day too,” she said, squeezing his hand. “And this muffin has amazing grasshoppers in it.”
</p><p>	“You’re so gross,” Mollymauk laughed, nabbing a sliver of it from her other hand. 
</p><p>	The water glowed red where his hand gripped hers; the tiefling pulled it out of the tub suddenly, turning his palm up towards his face.
</p><p>	Nothing. Just his bare palm and his featureless snake on the top twisting between the flower tattoos. Mollymauk frowned, rubbing his thumb over the skin.
</p><p>	“Are you alright, Schatz?” Caleb asked, bringing a platter of hot chocolates over. Mollymauk brought his knees up, still feeling his hand before he looked up at the man.
</p><p>	“Aye, aye, I just thought I saw something. Just my imagination, I suppose,” Mollymauk said. He used the hand to take a mug from Caleb. “Thank you - <em>ah </em> - danke.”
</p><p>	“Sicher,” he replied with a smile.
</p><p>	“I was wondering,” Mollymauk said, and the entire room shifted their attention to him. “When we get back home, will you introduce me to more of your friends?”
</p><p>	“Oh,” Beau said, “Yeah, sure, we can do that.”
</p><p>	“Fjord mentioned a drow Mister Caleb was close to? Essek, I believe?” the tiefling quipped, sipping the cocoa. “What’s he like?”
</p><p>	His friends exchanged glances.
</p><p>	Mollymauk looked around at them, lowering the mug so it sat just above the bubbles at his knees. “Is he horrible? What is it?”
</p><p>	“Oh, no,” Jester suddenly spoke. “He’s super sweet. The sweetest.”
</p><p>	“A good friend,” Caduceus added, his tail thumping once against the rug. He held a teacup in his hands that Mollymauk didn’t see him drink from.
</p><p>	The tiefling’s smile shifted to something akin to an awkward grin. “You guys are acting weird; is it a sensitive topic?”
</p><p>	“No-” Fjord said.
</p><p>	“-Ja,” Caleb said at the same time. They looked at each other.
</p><p>	“It’s complicated,” Yasha explained, making Caleb bend over to let her grab a mug from the platter. Mollymauk caught the glare they exchanged. “You can make your own opinion of Essek if we run by him, of course. Do you want any more marshmallows?”
</p><p>	“Um, okay.” Mollymauk held his drink up for a cat to run by with a small bowl of the white treats. He felt Jester slowly begin to wrap his hair. “I wonder how Ku’ra is doing; maybe I should drop by the grove again soon.”
</p><p>	“Mm!” Beau said from her spot at the end of Mollymauk’s bed. “I would certainly like to see her again. She has the best secret stash of alcohol I’ve ever seen.”
</p><p>	“I like her forwardness,” Veth added. “Like a mother.”
</p><p>	“I feel like she gives off more older sister vibes,” Fjord countered.
</p><p>	They erupted into a steady conversation about Ku’ra and the druids from when Mollymauk was with them. Reliving memory after memory. The tiefling slowly drank from his mug. The taste was exactly how he remembered it from the one Fjord brought him that night. His brow furrowed.
</p><p>	A sharp tug on his hair pulled him out of his thoughts. “Ow,” he said, reaching up to touch Jester’s hand.
</p><p>	“Oops! Sorry,” she said, patting his hand back down. 
</p><p>	“I think I’d actually like to get out of the tub now,” Mollymauk said, shifting his position. The group in his room all watched him climb out and grab a towel before returning to passing brunch around. “I’m getting a little cold.”

</p><p> </p><p>	Lucien kept his anti-magic eye moving, tracking those he knew had the strongest spells as the Tomb Takers attacked the Mighty Nein with full force. The ruin of the ward was shaking around them. He read from the journal, the psychological thudding in his head slamming against his temples. They were speaking to him - reassuring him, his heart kept its normal rhythm; just temporary pain, he thought, just a second of discomfort and then he would fulfill his side of the deal - a vessel to the infinite knowledge of the past. 
</p><p>	He saw Otis make contact with the Mighty Nein’s halfling, Veth; crossbows exchanged for fists, as Otis went wild with his blood magic, turning to look at Lucien with hysteria in his eyes. 
</p><p>	“Wake up, Mollymauk!” 
</p><p>	The tiefling aggravatedly looked up from his reading, his anti-magic eye shifting directly over the wizard, downing another spell he was preparing. There was desperation in the voice, anger in his expression. Who was he mad at, Lucien wondered, as he recalled watching the human make the silly promise to his fragment.
</p><p>	The temperature continued to drop in the room. As Fjord leapt in from behind Lucien and carved a long gash along the bloodhunter’s back, ice immediately followed through with it - webbing the blood like diamonds up his spine. Lucien spun around, grabbing the half orc by his coat’s lapels and slammed him to the ground, kicking him off the altar towards Cree. His mind suddenly told him to duck as the Raven Queen’s agent confronted him from afar, a dagger streamlining overhead. The black wings continued to shake off the frost that inched along the feathers, grounding him. Lucien chuckled.
</p><p>	“Care for a rematch of our other morning?” Lucien asked Vax’ildan. He closed the journal - he had already memorized everything - and reached a hand out to the empty space next to him. “Sword,” he said plainly. Tyffial rushed in to hand him a black scimitar, continuing on her assault on Beauregard, who had already downed two bandits. The tiefling stepped down to the steps of the altar. “Let’s dance, pretty boy. I have a date with the wizard next.”
</p><p>	The half-elf summoned a dark raven’s mask over his face and pulled two more blades from his belt. “Very well,” he replied.

</p><p> </p><p>	“Ow,” Mollymauk whispered, pulling his finger off the pages of his notebook.
</p><p>	Caleb quickly looked up from his journal. “What is it?”
</p><p>	They sat in the first chamber of Mollymauk’s apartment at his desk - working on language exchanging. His hair was still up in the curls Jester had set; hours had passed. 
</p><p>	“Papercut,” the tiefling said, waiting for it to flake over. Caleb took his hand from across the papers and wells of ink.
</p><p>	“Allow me,” he replied, plopping Mollymauk’s finger in his mouth. Mollymauk’s face lit aflame, his tail slapping the floor.
</p><p>	“Ayyye,” Mollymauk said, pulling his hand back sheepishly. “I could have healed it myself, you don’t have to go all sexy Zemnian man on me, Mister Caleb.”
</p><p>	Caleb sat back, twiddling his fingers over a quill, exchanging glances from the fireplace to Mollymauk, mouthing <em>‘sexy Zemnian man’ </em> as if he were contemplating the compliment.
</p><p>	“You’ve been… bold lately,” Mollymauk stated, picking his pen back up. “Not that I don’t like it; I’m still coming to terms with this morning. And I’m sure Molly is prancing about losing his shit around here if I ever see him.” He cleared his throat, focusing on a cure wounds to his small cut. He squinted; it took longer than it usually did.
</p><p>	“Third person speaking today?” Caleb asked, a grin forming.
</p><p>	Mollymauk looked up sharply, confused.
</p><p>	Caleb’s grin faltered. He coughed, “Ah, so Yasha was wondering if you would join her later for a game of darts once you two get inebriated.”
</p><p>	“She told you that?” Mollymauk pried, “Why didn’t she just ask me when she was in here?”
</p><p>	“She just thought of it,” Caleb responded, “Littany, the cat, just let me know.”
</p><p>	Mollymauk peeked about the room. They were along in here; he didn’t see any cat servants saunter in or out. “I didn’t see any of them come through their usual tunnel.”
</p><p>	“You’ve just been very preoccupied,” the human said, reaching over to tap the writing in front of him. The tiefling pursed his lips. Maybe he was concentrating on his work enough that he didn’t hear the room’s bell jingle. The fireplace cackling had become just a distant sound while he wrote. “If you’d like Jester to take those out of your hair now, we can go into the library with everyone?”
</p><p>	“Mister Caleb?”
</p><p>	The wizard hesitated standing up. “Ja?” he said.
</p><p>	“How long has your tower been up? I thought it only lasted eight hours?”
</p><p>	“I recasted it earlier,” Caleb said quickly, “save us the trouble.”
</p><p>	“We don’t have to leave for you to do that?”
</p><p>	“Nein, of course not. I don’t blame you for not knowing - you’ve only been in here a few times. But let’s go, I can practically hear Veth and Fjord arguing.” He offered his hand to Mollymauk, which the tiefling took to rise from his chair, and hung onto it as he led him from the room. As they passed a mirror, Mollymauk saw the red eye glowing from the center of his forehead. 
</p><p>	He pulled his hand from Caleb, double taking back to the mirror, touching his face. He didn’t feel anything - the image was gone. Caleb stepped back, gingerly taking the tiefling’s hands and placing a kiss between his horns with such vigor he calmed immediately. To their friends he was brought, met with hugs and smiles and a handful of darts that Yasha held out to him alongside a large chalice of clear, pungent liquid. 

</p><p> </p><p>	Lucien’s feet hardly touched the ground as he stepped off a pillar, bringing his scimitar down on Vax’ildan’s icepick grip. Jester approached from behind his left shoulder; with his eye swivelling around, his hand grabbed a chunk of her hair. He heard her cry out for Mollymauk, the fragment, as he threw her towards the leather-clad rogue, tossing them both backwards towards the stone wall. The ceiling was emitting an insane glow, like a storm had brewed along the surface, a portal crackling and rolling in on itself at the edges. It was more eerie than its appearance was its silence. The space beyond it was darkness - the abyssal void that Lucien himself remembered falling through with no time to define how long he had been there, no feeling to do anything. No one deserved that place as a prison. No sound came from the space. In fact, it seemed to suck the noise of falling stone and cracking blades right into it. The shouting of the Mighty Nein towards each other rose to oblivion; the Tomb Takers’ gasps of awe taken with them. 
</p><p>	Lucien’s ears were roaring with voices; they spoke at once, over each other, octaves high and low growing in strength as it felt like they crawled into the skin. The eyes along his body glowed brighter, splintering into his veins. His swipes of his blade became harsher, yet less of a swing of a practiced swordsman and more of a simple powerful being with a sharp object in hand. The tiefling bit into his lip, his fingers were numb, but he could not let go of the scimitar as he barreled down on the Raven Queen’s champion once more. 
</p><p>	Caduceus found it hard to keep up with healing his friends alongside himself. His eyes followed their lavender friend as he diffused a psychic blast every few seconds. The deafening silence to the room leaked blood from their ears - he could feel the vibration that the portal gave off - as the space was not completely void of noise, but so incredibly loud that no one could hear. Caduceus caught Caleb falling into him, thrown back by Zoran as Yasha cleaved her sword into the goliath’s ribs. The wizard’s face was tense, finding the short lift in the firbolg’s arms a reprieve. He looked up at Caduceus.
</p><p>	“We could not have prepared for this,” he mouthed.
</p><p>	They watched as Fjord swung his hand out, throwing a blast of eldritch energy towards Lucien - only for the tiefling to grab at Otis, throwing the bloodhunter in front of the attack with no hesitation, swinging the body back down towards Veth.
</p><p>	Caduceus squeezed Caleb’s shoulder, casting a final mass healing spell to his friends of the energy he could muster. “I’m afraid we may have to knock our friend out,” he mouthed back. Although both knew that Vax’ildan had been trying to do the one step further for the past several minutes. Beau had successfully taken down the rest of the recruited bandits - the pile of them stacked in the corner of this room. She joined Yasha in beating Zoran as he unsuccessfully cried out for aid from his fellow Tomb Takers. 
</p><p>	Vax’ildan, parrying quicker than he was before, watched the red glow from the tiefling’s tattoos make etchings along the skin - similar to the ones carved throughout Aeor - intricate and old markings. The half elf grunted, cursing as the scimitar smashed through the bone embellishment on his shoulder.
</p><p>	“I will keep to our bargain, Mister Tealeaf,” Vax’ildan said to Lucien - who cursed at him in a wail of Deep Speech - striking divine energy down between the two of them.

</p><p> </p><p>	Mollymauk stood in his room again. He was alone this time; or, at least he believed he was. His hair had been relieved of the pins and curled around his face in spiraling locks. They bounced with him as he walked, grazing his shoulder blades. There were still plates of food leftover from brunch - some strangely untouched by his friends - scattered around the 
</p><p>	He had gotten dressed in the clothes he wore long before, his druid skirts and tapestry sash. They felt homey. The Mighty Nein he had left to their own devices, taking his tipsy self to his room when his head started to ache. Did he drink so much? He wondered, he was not so much of a light-weight but he didn’t recall having more than two cups of the alcohol Yasha served him. Mollymauk teetered through his room, pushing off his bed and running his hands along his room’s walls. His cold hands were in stark contrast to the walls as they burned as if they were sitting in the sun. He slipped his fingers down the stained glass window’s drapes until he was finally leaning against the pedestal with the memory book of Molly and his friends from Caleb’s point of view. The shimmering peacock feather along the hard cover looked more dull than last he opened it.
</p><p>	He propped his pinkie inside the book, nudging it open to a random page.
</p><p>	The paper was blank.
</p><p>	Mollymauk sobered immediately.
</p><p>	He stood up straight, shifting through the pages. Some, instead of producing the moving photos, produced writing. It was nonsensical writing of the abyssal city, turning to gibberish, scribbling <em>nonsense,</em> the papers of the memory book soaking through with black and red ink. It stained the tips of Mollymauk’s fingers as he flipped another page - horror pressing down on his chest. It zapped him. He stepped back, holding his hands to his chest as the book slammed shut. The feather ardently replaced by the dirty cover of a plain-looking journal.
</p><p>	Leave, he heard Molly’s voice in his ear. And he didn’t have to say it again. 
Mollymauk booked it to the door, the second room of the druid forest lit up in tiny red eyes in the sky, the singing replaced by voices that only grew louder and louder. He ducked out of his apartment and leapt down the center circle of the tower - his skirt billowing out around him as he fell past the library - his friends frozen in place as if turned off puppets sitting around the fire where he left him. Mollymauk’s breath stalled in his throat as his heels hit the floor of the tower’s base. It was silent now. The light peeking through the nine glass windows lit the floor in a hazy glow. His heels sent small echoes outward as he turned to the door.
</p><p>Caleb stood in front of it - taking up the space of the white light behind him. He looked up from a book, as if he had been standing there the whole time.
</p><p>“What are you doing?” he asked, closing the book. “Are you alright?”
</p><p>Mollymauk twitched, placing his arm with his loaded bracer to the back. “Taking some air,” he said. “I’m fine.”
</p><p>The human, or was he?, stepped forward on his right foot, sliding the book into the holster at his chest. There was a pitiful chuckle that left his lips. “Mein freund, you are drunk.”
</p><p>“I’m n-not drunk,” Mollymauk replied, taking a mirroring step back. “Stop doing that.”
</p><p>“Doing what?” he said, holding his hands up. “Mollymauk, you aren’t acting like yourself. Let’s go back up and get some water maybe -”
</p><p>“Stop gaslighting me!” the tiefling shouted. His fist balled. He lowered himself into a slight crouch. Caleb frowned.
</p><p>“We’re not gaslighting you, Mollymauk, you’re being irrational. You’re safe here; you’re safe with us, we’re here to take care of you, not put you in any danger.”
</p><p>	“Shut up,” Mollymauk said, his face contorting into anger. “How dare you pretend to be them - how <em>dare </em>you.”
</p><p>	The voices of the Nein started up on the level above, calling out for him to join them for another game, for another meal, another story. Mollymauk put his free hand to his head - feeling the pained pulse beneath his temple.
</p><p>	“What if we’re not,” Caleb exclaimed, “What if we really are who we say we are. What happens then? You’ll just leave your friends behind? And go where, Mollymauk? There is nothing out there waiting for anyone but death and cold and darkness. We are in here with you - we are alive and warm and welcoming. You’d just leave that?”
</p><p>	Mollymauk’s lungs were being crushed. His own breathing did not follow the pattern he wanted it to. The flowers along his hair had dimmed and flaked off - the petals dropping to the stone floor. Caleb walked to him, his hands still up. They grazed his shoulders, warm hands slid down his arms.
</p><p>	“I wouldn’t lie to you,” he whispered. Mollymauk met his gaze, the perfect blue eyes that he had stared into many times before. A lavender palm met the human’s jaw and the shaved skin that still left missed stubble and bumps. Caleb leaned into it, a smile gracing his features. Then he flinched.
</p><p>	“That’s sweet, but…” Mollymauk pulled the hidden blade out of the wizard’s gut. “Yes, Mister Caleb <em>would</em>,” he said, letting his hand fall from the man’s face. The form of Caleb rippled like static, watching Mollymauk step around him to the doorway, unmovable. 
</p><p>	“There is nothing out there that will please you,” the form mumbled in Deep Speech. Mollymauk gripped the edges of the exit with whitened knuckles.
</p><p>	“I don’t expect there to be.”
</p><p>	The tiefling walked out of the tower, back into the small, deep, dark space of his mind. Weightless, cold, and lit up by six rotating red eyes boring down onto him. Mollymauk floated forward as they followed him - a trivial and mundane task. He wiped the tears from his face that did not stop falling and freezing on his cheeks, but he kept going, the glowing image of the tower disappearing to the darkness behind him. He could hear commotion, distant, disconnected from the space. And ahead of him, he could see the partially formed body of Lucien, standing upright, staring above him. Mollymauk stopped. Lucien was mumbling to himself.
</p><p>	“Why can’t I...?” he whispered. “You said… you promised…”
</p><p>	His form’s missing hand reformed in the void as a seventh eye burned into the darkness, spinning slowly in a circle around them. Mollymauk could see him quaking, his shoulders rising and falling.
</p><p>	“Lucien?” Mollymauk said in a whisper, reaching a hand out hesitantly. His forebearer froze, an ear tilting back towards him; and the tiefling could see - Lucien’s eyes were still missing.
</p><p>	“I can’t do it,” he murmured.
</p><p>	“What?”
</p><p>	“I can’t move my body.”</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>editing the HTML is awful but my Google doc formatting is so *chefs kiss*, I tried my best to give AO3's version here. <br/>But OOF yeah can't believe the Somnovum lied to Lucien and gaslit Mollymauk who could have seen that coming. Teasing Mollymauk with some sweet Caleb love where they aren't pining,,, of course it was fAKE. </p><p>We have another cameo first coming up in the last chapter. My second favorite. But not until after more angst. Maybe it'll be hurt/comfort... I haven't decided. </p><p>Thank you so much to everyone who has ever commented or made art or simply just read and enjoyed! You guys mean the world to me!! Join in next month for Molly3's final chapter!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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